Think of someone you know in their 80s. A grandparent, or parent perhaps. Think of the most impressive thing they’ve done — swum, or climbed, or even run. Well, Clint Eastwood is 86, and just opened his second unlikely smash-hit movie in a row, after a career lasting over 50 years as both an actor and a director.
Buzz on “Sully,” starring Tom Hanks as Captain Sully Sullenberger, who landed a stricken plane on the Hudson, was quiet over the summer, but the film debuted to strong reviews (including our own), and it came in a full $10 million over early tracking, with an estimated $35.58m over three days. Even if it doesn’t compare with the $90 million that “American Sniper” took, that’s a pretty great result — Hanks’ third-best ever, and his first number-one opener since “Angels & Demons” in 2009, and the fifth best for all time in September — and should remind both studio executives and journalists that, with the right movie, there’s still an appetite for a film like this at any time of year.
READ MORE: Watch A Biopic Of Tom Hanks Starring Sully Sullenberger (Thanks To Jimmy Kimmel)
Eastwood’s films, playing as they do to an older crowd that don’t necessarily rush to the theater immediately, normally have a long tail to them, and even with competition like “Deepwater Horizon” and “The Magnificent Seven” arriving in the coming weeks, you should expect this to take three or four times the opening haul, putting it well over the $100 million barrier. A pretty major home-run for Warner Bros.
The studio also should be celebrating, as it looks like “Suicide Squad” will be crossing the $700 million barrier this weekend, after a fourth-place finish and a further $5.65 million in the domestic bank. It’s a lesson in having a late season release date: with no effective tentpole competition opening after it, “Suicide Squad” had the run of theaters, and after a big first-week drop, has managed to hold on to screens and audiences. This still isn’t a total home-run — studio hopes were likely higher — but it could have gone much worse, given the hostile reaction to the film.
READ MORE: Shia LaBeouf Says David Ayer Wanted Him For ‘Suicide Squad’ But Warner Bros. Said No
Meanwhile, Screen Gems normally do well with movies aimed at African-American audiences at this time of year, but “When The Bough Breaks” was a bit of a disappointment. The thriller, starring Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall, took in about $15 million, which isn’t bad given it only cost about $10 million (and got horrible reviews), but is a full $10 million down on “The Perfect Guy” or “No Good Deed” in recent years. Maybe it’s because of the incredibly bad title? Still, Screen Gems won’t be too bummed out, given that their “Don’t Breathe” is still at number 3, dropping unusually slowly for a horror film and currently standing at around $66.8 million domestically.
Elsewhere, Lionsgate’s animation “The Wild Life,” a movie we literally just learned about for the first time right this second, snuck into the top 5 with $3.4 million, but this was a pick-up of a foreign-language animation, so likely didn’t cost the company much. Rather more, uh, disappointing was “The Disappointments Room,” the first release from Relativity since they were rescued from bankruptcy. The Kate Beckinsale-starring horror opened in seventeenth place, with a brutal $900 screen average and taking just $1.4 million in total. Let’s hope future Relativity releases are less reminiscent of, well, previous Relativity releases.
Meanwhile, in limited release, the excellent “Kicks” did ok with a $32,000 in three theaters (go see it!), while Sundance opener “Other People” was less hot, with $38,000 from 12. Full top 10 below.
- “Sully” – $35.5 million ($35.5million)
- “When The Bough Breaks” – $15 million ($15 million)
- “Don’t Breathe” – $8.2 million ($66.8 million)
- “Suicide Squad” – $5.65 million ($307.4 million)
- “The Wild Life” – $3.4 million ($3.4 million)
- “Kubo and the Two Strings” – $3.2 million ($40.8 million)
- “Pete’s Dragon” – $2.9 million ($70 million)
- “Bad Moms” – $2.8 million ($107.5 million)
- “Hell Or High Water” – $2.6 million ($19.8 million)
- “Sausage Party” – $2.3 million ($93.1 million)