Box Office Discussion: "Barbarian" at the Gate

 Barbarian wins the second-slowest weekend of the year.

With Labor Day--and the $3 ticket promotion--over, ticket sales slumped to numbers not seen since January, when the box office was pretty much Spider-Man: No Way Home and nothing else.  The good news is that there's a lot more diversity in what's making money (12 films make over $1 million this weekend, as compared to 7 the last weekend of January), but the bad news is that there's not all that much money for any film out there.

Leading the charge was the well-received horror thriller Barbarian.  Starring little-known British actress Georgina Campbell and the better-known Bill Skarsgård and Justin Long, the film was able to ride rave reviews to an OK $10.5 million opening.  It will remain to be seen if good word-of-mouth and lack of competition can allow the film to have better legs than a typical horror film.

Opening in 2nd was the Bollywood epic Brahamstra Part One: Shiva.  The first in a planned trilogy, that in turn will launch a larger, Marvel-like cinematic universe, the film took in $4.5 million in North America.  The second-place debut is the highest chart position for a Bollywood production ever (though its well off the best opening of a Bollywood film), and we'll see if the film can avoid the typical second-weekend collapse that a lot of Bollywood movies suffer from.

Leading the holdovers is Bullet Train.  The month-old action-comedy chugged its way to $3.3 million, for a total gross of $92.6 million. If it can earn steady numbers for the next couple of weeks, it might be able to hit $100 million by the end of the month.

Last week's champ, Top Gun: Maverick, which has been playing since Memorial Day weekend, brought in $3.2 million, for a total of $705.6 million.  Should Maverick hang on in the Top Ten for six more weeks, it will beat the 21st century record for longest run currently held by The Croods: A New Age

Turning in nearly identical grosses for fifth and sixth is horror film The Invitation and the animated DC League of Super-Pets.  Both films took in about $2.7 million, though Invitation made about $10,000 more.  Total grosses of the two are $18.9 million and $85.2 million, respectively.

Opening in 7th is the Christian drama Lifemark, about an adopted teenage boy who is reunited with his birth parents.  Produced (but not directed) by superstar Christian film director Alex Kendrick (whose films include War Room and Courageous, both of which became legitimate hits, even by secular standards) and actor Kirk Cameron (both of whom also act in the film), the film took in $2.2 million, somewhat of a disappointment given the track record of those involved (Overcomer, Kendrick's most recent directorial effort, opened to $8.2 million three years ago).  Expect this one to head to digital/streaming fairly fast.

Beast came in at 8th, with $1.8 million, for a total gross of $29.4 million.  Long-running smash Minions: The Rise of Gru earned $1.7 million, for a gross of $362.4 million.  

Rounding out the Top Ten is Spider-Man: No Way Home-The More Fun Stuff Version, which collapsed from last weekend, taking in only $1.3 million.  The reissue has a ten-day total of $8.6 million, and the overall gross of the film is now $813.4 million.

Outside the Top Ten, the week's other new wide release, the period action film Medieval, didn't attract much business at all, opening in 14th to just $0.8 million.  That's still more than the second weekend of  the Jaws re-release, not to mention instaflops Honk For Jesus Save Your Soul and Gigi & Nate were able to round up.  Ten-day totals for the three stand at $4.5 million,. $2.4 million, and $1.9 million, respectively.

This week's biggest opening is The Woman King, a period actioner starring Viola Davis as a general in a 19th century African army and John Boyega as the nation's corrupt king.  It seems like a good bet to hit #1 this weekend.  Also looking for a solid debut is See How They Run, a period comedy-mystery starring Sam Rockwell as an inspector and Saoirse Ronan as a rookie constable in 1950s London investigating a murder in a theater.  This would likely love to be a British Knives Out (with the grosses to match), but forecasters aren't that optimistic.  Possibly appearing lower on the chart are Pearl, a prequel to the spring's horror film X, and another Christian movie, Running the Bases.  Will Woman King take the weekend throne?  Could See How They Run make a surprise run to the top?  Or could Barbarian defend itself from the hordes?  We'll find out next week.