Stefano Montesi
The Equalizer 3 is still on track to have the second-biggest Labor Day weekend in history with an estimated $42.3 million.
Although the holiday isn’t a traditional box office draw, Denzel Washington’s slasher thriller surpassed the previous runner-up for its Labor Day debut: Rob Zombie’s 2007 remake of “Halloween,” which had grossed $30 million to date. Monday. Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings still holds the Labor Day crown with a four-day opening of $94.6 million in 2021.
However, “Equalizer 3″‘s three-day domestic cume of $34.5 million is almost identical to its predecessors. The 2015 original grossed $34 million in a traditional three-day window, while the 2018 sequel grossed $36 million. With a production budget of $70 million co-financed by TSG and Eagle Pictures, Columbia Pictures’ “Equalizer 3” is targeting similar performance by the end of its run. Part 3 received an “A” grade on CinemaScore and a 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Speaking of box office achievements, Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” surpassed “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as the highest-grossing worldwide release of the year with $1.38 billion. In its seventh weekend of release, the hot pink comedy remained in second place at the domestic box office with $13.1 million over four days.
“Blue Beetle” fell to third place in its third weekend of release, earning $9.2 million through Monday. Although DC Studios’ comic book movie is doing better than this year’s “Shazam!” Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash,” and “Blue Beetle’s” $57 million in North American sales is unlikely to justify its $104 million production budget.
Last weekend’s winner, “Gran Turismo,” dropped to fourth place with $8.5 million over Labor Day weekend. Sony’s $60 million budget racing drama has generated a domestic total of $30.6 million so far.
Universal’s “Oppenheimer” occupied the top five with $7.5 million through Monday. Christopher Nolan’s historical epic has surpassed $850 million in global ticket sales, becoming the director’s third highest-grossing film of all time, behind The Dark Knight’s $1 billion and The Dark Knight Rises’ $1.08 billion.
Expanding this weekend from 10 locations to 715, MGM’s “Bottoms” grossed $3.6 million in its second showing. This quirky comedy, directed by “Shiva Baby” director Emma Seligman, has grossed $4.3 million after a week of limited release.
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