The Nia DaCosta-directed slasher film impressively pulls in an estimated $22.3 million in North America on a sleepy weekend despite concerns about COVID delta variant.
- August 30, 2021
AceShowbiz - "Candyman" lore still draws moviegoers to theaters amid the pandemic. The direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name impressively pulled in an estimated $22.3 million to debut at No. 1 on the North American box office.
The horror's movie opening gross surpassed the the lowball projection of $15 million by nearly 50 percent despite the COVID delta concerns. "It was a quiet weekend, but it was another check mark in the success column for horror," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.
"Candyman" stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a visual artist who finds himself entangled in a series of horrific murders related to the urban legend of Candyman. The R-rated horror movie, written by Jordan Peele, was well received by critics and earned an average grade of "B" from audiences polled by CinemaScore. It is expected to gross $5.23 million in 51 international markets.
The arrival of "Candyman" pushes "Free Guy" down one spot to No. 2 with approximately $13.6 million, down only $26.7 percent from last week, on a quiet weekend. After the Ryan Reynolds-starrer, the numbers drop significantly with "PAW Patrol: The Movie" following at No. 3 with an estimated $6.6 million.
According to Dergarabedian, audiences are being very selective in what they do outside of their homes. "When you have brand-new movies, if they are of a genre that people love like horror or have a star like Ryan Reynolds and a movie that's perceived to be great, people want to go out to see them," he said. "The other films that are either available on streaming and/or not getting the greatest buzz or reviews are going to drop by the wayside. It's just the nature of this marketplace" amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Jungle Cruise" also drops one spot to No. 4 with approximately $5 million, bringing its total domestic gross to cross the $100 million mark. "Don't Breathe 2" rounds up the top five with an estimated $2.8 million.
Top 10 of North America Box Office (Aug. 27-29, 2021):
- "Candyman" - $22.4 million
- "Free Guy" - $13.6 million
- "PAW Patrol: The Movie" - $6.6 million
- "Jungle Cruise" - $5 million
- "Don't Breathe 2" - $2.8 million
- "Respect" - $2.2 million
- "The Suicide Squad" - $2 million
- "The Protege" - $1.6 million
- "The Night House" - $1.2 million
- "Black Widow" - $885,000
