'Crazy Rich Asians' tops US box office again; 'Happytime Murders' flops

Warner Bros. acclaimed romantic comedy ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ generated another $25 million in 3,526 locations, meaning it made almost as much during its second outing as it did its first weekend. Jon M. Chu’s movie, which has been lauded as the first studio film in over 25 years with a predominantly Asian-American cast, dropped just 6 per cent — marking one of the best holds in recent history for a wide release in any genre. Saturday’s numbers dropped an unprecedented 0 per cent. In two weeks, its domestic total sits at $76.8 million.

Also read: 'Crazy Rich Asians' sequel already in works

“Every now and then, all the stars align, and this is what happened here,” Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.’ head of domestic distribution, said. “The word of mouth has just spread.”

‘Crazy Rich Asians’ easily fended off Melissa McCarthy’s ‘The Happytime Murders.’ The black comedy opened in third place with a lacklustre $10 million in 3,256 locations. That’s easily the lowest start of McCarthy’s solo career. The STX movie, which carries a $40 million production budget, was panned by critics. It carries a bleak 22 per cent average on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

It doesn’t get much brighter for this weekend’s new wide releases. Global Road Entertainment’s “A.X.L.” launched with a dismal $2.9 million in 1,710 venues — disastrous news for the beleaguered company. Earlier this week, Global Road’s lenders took control of the film division after the company failed to raise enough money to pay for future productions.

Warner Bros.’ ‘The Meg’ hit a major milestone this weekend as it crossed $100 million at the domestic box office. The shark thriller stayed at No. 2, picking up $13 million in 4,031 locations in its third outing. Globally, it has amassed over $400 million.

Meanwhile, Tom Cruise’s latest mission continues to be a profitable one. ‘Mission: Impossible - Fallout’ landed in fourth place with $8.1 million on 3,052 screens for a domestic tally of $194 million. It generated $13 million overseas, bringing its worldwide cume to $538 million.

Rounding out the top five is Disney’s ‘Christopher Robin,’ which picked up $6.4 million in its fourth frame. That brings its North American total to $77.7 million and worldwide cume to $112 million.

In limited release, Bleecker Street’s ‘Papillon’ launched with just $1.1 million in 544 locations. Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek star in the remake of the 1973 film with Steven McQueen and Dustin Hoffman.

Sony’s ‘Searching’ opened in nine theatres with $360,000 for a per-screen-average of $40,000. The Sundance title features John Cho and Michelle La.

A surprisingly strong August brings popcorn season up 13.6 per cent, while the year-to-date box office is up a healthy 9.4 per cent, according to comScore.