In the movie Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, muscle-laden Luke Hobbs grabs the end of a chain and pulls a flying helicopter—tethered to the other end—toward him. Why? Because he can, that’s why.
Well, that practice came in handy this weekend. Despite being attacked by five new wide releases, Hobbs & Shaw managed to pull down another lofty box-office victory. Clearly, this is a film that still has some choppers. Er, chops.
It’s not like Hobbs & Shaw is necessarily gunning for Avengers: Endgame. It earned its second win by collecting an estimated $25.4 million in North America, pushing its total domestic tally to a nice-but-unremarkable $108.5 million. For a little perspective, Endgame pulled down $147.4 million in its second weekend alone. Still, a win is a win. Add in the $224.1 million that Hobbs & Shaw has banked overseas, and Luke Hobbs may soon be able to buy a helicopter of his very own to exercise with.
Newcomer Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark pulled its various parts together and creepily crept into second place, scoring a scary $20.8-million weekend in the process. That’s more than the prognosticators pegged for this prickly pic, by the way—proving again that horror flicks aren’t just about the boo. They’re about the Benjamins, too.
While Scary Stories was beating its expectations, Dora and the Lost City of Gold was missing its own. This update of Nickelodeon’s beloved cartoon Dora the Explorer landed with a dusty thud in fourth place, earning $17 million and falling behind The Lion King ($20 million for third). Not only is that less than the titular City of Gold surely held, it was about $5 million behind what some were predicting.
Perhaps it was the week: Dora got lost in a jungle of new movies, including a couple with family appeal. Or perhaps it was the year: The original Dora the Explorer ran from 2000 to 2006, which means that its original preschool fans are too old for the tween-centric flick but too young to have kids of their own. Meanwhile, the movie’s target demographic was saying, “Dora who?”
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood locked up the top five with a $11.6 million weekend, leaving the rest of the newbies on the outside looking in.
The Art of Racing in the Rain finished sixth with $8.1 million. The dog at the heart of the film believes in reincarnation, so perhaps its hoping for a second life down the road. The R-rated, female-centric actioner The Kitchen stole seventh place with $5.5 million. And Brian Banks, based on the true story of a one-time high school football star trying to clear his name, failed to score. It earned just $2.1 million. (As the guy who reviewed the flick, I think it deserved better.)
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