This has notably been an unfortunate summer for sequels, but when crafting a box office formula for success, one thing that really helps is keeping the budget down. That's what Annabelle: Creation managed to do, and it's now earned the top spot domestically. Check out the full rundown in the chart below!
As we've pointed out in past weeks, sequels like Alien: Covenant, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Transformers: The Last Knight all disappointed when they opened earlier in the season, but you can count Annabelle: Creation as a successful sequel in Summer 2017. The movie only cost a reported grand total of $15 million, so bringing in more than double that in its first three days is a nice score. The horror feature from director David Sandberg has carried positive buzz for weeks now, and while it only secured a 'B' CinemaScore, it could end the month of August with very healthy box office to budget ratio.
When discussing a sequel, it's always nice to compare it to the original - and the numbers are actually very similar. Directed by John Leonetti, the first Annabelle actually made $37 million when it opened in October 2014, which was even more impressive at the time because that particular chapter of the growing Conjuring Universe was only made for a reported $6.5 million. It went on to do well domestically, but even better abroad, and by the time its theatrical run is over it had made more than $250 million worldwide. That's some crazy success right there, and it will be interesting to see if Annabelle: Creation can get near those numbers.
Taking the discussion about disappointing sequels this summer even further, it's been a particularly weak year for animation. Despicable Me 3 opened much softer than its predecessors; Cars 3 really came and went; and The Emoji Movie, as you can see above, is about the exit the Top 5 in just its third week. Now you can add The Nut Job 2: Nutty By Nature to that list. Another follow-up to a 2014 film, the new movie didn't have as powerful a predecessor (The Nut Job made $120 million worldwide during its release window), but still nobody can be happy with these results. The $8 million take is less than half of what the original made in its opening weekend - and that was in January.
The last new release to discuss is The Glass Castle, which was out in far fewer theaters than the rest of the Top 10, but it's numbers still aren't amazing. An adaptation of Jeannette Walls' book of the same name, and looking much more like a fall release than a summer, the movie didn't even hit the $5 million mark this weekend, and only pulled in a little less than $3,500 per theater. It almost certainly doesn't help that the feature is sporting a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.
After some big scares this weekend with Annabelle: Creation, the next time around looks a lot more upbeat. This Friday we will be seeing the arrival of not only Stephen Soderbergh's new heist comedy Logan Lucky, but also the pairing on Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in The Hitman's Bodyguard. Stay tuned for our report next Sunday to analyze their box office performance!
