Beauty School : Candyman Scares Up the Box Office, Tops $20 Million First Weekend

Candyman slashed his way to the top of the box office where the iconic villain slashed a cool $22 million from 3,569 theaters, proving yet again that audiences simply can’t get enough horror in their appetite. Per Deadline, in terms of August releases, Nia DaCosta’s thriller (from producer Jordan Peele) ranks fourth behind 2009’s Final Destination ($27.4 million), 2016’s Don’t Breathe ($26.4 million), and 2007’s Halloween ($26.3 million). Not too shabby!

Audiences awarded the film starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and (briefly) Tony Todd a “B”, well above the 1992 original’s C+ score, and placing it right alongside recent genre entries such as The Forever Purge (B-) and Don’t Breathe (B); and on par with Peele’s previous production, Us (B), though below Get Out (A-). It’ll be interesting to see if Candyman has legs in the weeks ahead.

Elsewhere, Free Guy held firm at No. 2 with $13.55 million (-27%) in Week 3, while Jungle Cruise officially crossed the $100 million threshold after grossing another $5 million in its fifth week of release.

Overall, moviegoing was pretty slow, although next week promises a little more excitement with the release of Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings, which is expected to bring in at least $45 million over the extended Labor Day holiday.

Box Office Top 10

1.) Candyman (Uni) 3,569 theaters Fri $9.1M/Sat $7.78M/Sun $5.4M/ 3-day $22.37M/Wk 1
2.) Free Guy (Dis/20th) 3,940 (-225) theaters Fri $3.6M (-31%)/Sat $6M/Sun $4M/3-day $13.55M (-27%)/Total $79.3M/Wk 3
3.) Paw Patrol (Par) 3,189 (+5) theaters Fri $1.75M (-61%)/Sat $2.86M/Sun $2M/3-day $6.6M (-50%)/Total $24M/Wk 2
4.) Jungle Cruise (Dis) 3,370 (-205) theaters Fri $1.3M (-26%)/Sat $2.2M/Sun $1.4M/3-day $5M (-21%)/Total $100.1M/Wk 5
5.) Don’t Breathe 2 (Sony) 2,703 (-302) theaters Fri $805K/Sat $1.2M/Sun $785K/3-day $2.8M (-45%)/Total: $24.6M/Wk 3
6.) Respect (UAR) 2,607 (-600) theaters Fri $629K (-42%)/Sat $965K/Sun $675K/3-day $2.269M (-40%)/Total $19.7M/Wk 3
7.) The Suicide Squad (WB) 2,436 (-490) theaters, 3-day $2M (-40%)/Total $52.8M/Wk 4
8.) The Protege (LG) 2,577 theaters Fri $484K/Sat $689K/Sun $477K/3-day $1.65M (-43%)/Total: $5.7M/Wk 2
9.) Night House (Sea) 2,250 theaters Fri $354K/Sat $511K/Sun $353K/3-day $1.2M (-58%)/Total $5.1M/Wk 2
10.) Black Widow (Dis) 1,050 (-290) theaters Fri $227K/Sat $382K/Sun $246K/3-day $855K (-23%)/Total $181.5M/Wk 8