Denzel Washington’s final outing as Robert McCall in “The Equalizer” franchise has debuted atop the box office charts with $34.5 million domestically and $26.1 million overseas for a $60.6 million worldwide debut over the weekend.
In addition, the film is targeting an estimated $41 million through Monday’s Labor Day holiday in the United States. This marks the second-biggest Labor Day opening weekend in modern times.
Record-wise, it comes in behind only Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” which took $75 million for the three-day and $94.6 million for the four-day. Next nearest is Rob Zombie’s “Halloween” which made $26 million for the three-day and $30 million for the four-day.
In terms of reviews, it’s coming in the best of the trilogy so far with a 76% (6.1/10) with critics and 94% with audiences on Rotten Tomatoes along with an ‘A’ CinemaScore in exit polls. With its relatively tight $70 million budget, it’s likely to be profitable.
The films have been pretty consistent, with all three nabbing three-day domestic openings in the mid-$30 million range. The previous two scored just over $100 million domestically and just under $200 million globally. This is expected to match or beat that.
“Barbie” came in second with $9.7 million over the weekend and an estimated $12.6 million through Monday. “Blue Beetle” is third with $6.6 million over the weekend and an estimated $8.6 million through Monday. Last week’s champ “Gran Turismo” fell to fourth with $6.5 million for the three-day and $8.4 million through Monday.
“Oppenheimer” closes out the top five with $5.3 million for the three-day and $7 million for the four-day. That film has crossed the $850 million mark worldwide and is now Nolan’s third highest-grossing film behind only the last two “Dark Knight” films. It has also surpassed “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” as the third-highest grossing film of 2023 worldwide.
Source: Variety
