There are two big stories to lead with in this edition of the Weekend Box Office Report and both of them are equally interesting in their own little ways. Let’s start with the positive: Sausage Party now inexplicably holds the record for biggest opening for an animated movie released in August. And now the negative: Suicide Squad dropped a staggering 67% in its second weekend, which…isn’t good.

FilmWeekendPer Screen
1Suicide Squad$43,770,000 (-67.3)$10,287$222,874,000
2Sausage Party$33,600,000$10,828$33,600,000
3Pete’s Dragon$21,501,000$5,808$21,501,000
4Jason Bourne$13,620,000 (-39.2)$3,861$126,782,000
5Bad Moms$11,450,000 (-18.2) 
$3,592$71,461,000
6The Secret Life of Pets$8,840,000 (-23.1)$2,989$335,942,000
7Star Trek Beyond$6,800,000 (-32.2)$2,639$139,679,000
8Florence Foster Jenkins$6,580,000$4,306$6,580,000
9Nine Lives$3,500,000 (-44.0)$1,546$13,550,000
10Lights Out$3,220,000 (-46.4)$1,949$61,134,000

Despite plummeting from its $135 million opening, Suicide Squad still held onto first place in the top 10 with $43 million, bringing its current total to $222 million. At this rate, the film should have enough momentum to break $300 million, but anything beyond that is up in the air at this point. This surely can’t feel good for Warner Bros., who watched Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice follow a nearly identical pattern earlier this year  —  a gigantic opening weekend, based purely on hype, leads to a disappointing second weekend as word of mouth spreads and those who don’t see superhero movies by default decide to skip the film in theaters. Suicide Squad should ultimately prove profitable (especially when international numbers are taken into account), but like Batman v Superman, it won’t be the billion dollar juggernaut everyone was hoping for. At this rate, only one option remains for Warner Bros. and the DCEU: they need to make good movies.

Meanwhile, Sausage Party arrived in second place with $33 million, which is enough to make it an August record-breaker. More importantly, that number is incredibly impressive for an R-rated animated film that reportedly only cost $19 million to produce. Unless the drop-off next week is enormous (and considering the film’s novelty value, it’s a real possibility), this film could end up being a sizable hit. In any case, it’s heartening to see a an animated movie not made for children open this well at the domestic box office, even if it is a filthy parody of animated movies made for children.

Pete’s Dragon, the third new release of the week, opened in third place with $21 million. That number isn’t going to blow anyone’s socks off, but the sky isn’t falling quite yet. The film’s reported budget was only $65 million and word of mouth from audiences over the weekend has already been strong. This is the exact kind of movie that could hold on for a number of weeks and emerge as sleeper hit if the positive word-of-mouth does its job. Next weekend’s numbers will be key.

Florence Foster Jenkins, the fourth new release of the week, opened in eighth place with only $6 million, the result of a smaller release with only a small-scale marketing campaign. However, one should not underestimate the power of Meryl Streep, who has helped lead her fair share of sleeper hits over the years.

The rest of the top 10 played out mostly as expected. Jason Bourne is doing solid business, although it isn’t the enormous hit everyone expected and almost certainly won’t reach the box office heights of The Bourne UltimatumThe Secret Life of Pets and Bad Moms benefited from tiny drop-offs, with the former surpassing Batman v Superman and the latter barreling toward $100 million. Star Trek Beyond is still in a bit of a nosedive, Nine Live is still D.O.A., and Lights Out is about to exit the top 10 with $61 million, making it one of the biggest horror hits in quite some time.

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