CRAZY RICH ASIANS Expected To Fight Off Melissa McCarthy To Remain Atop The Box Office

Read Time:1 Minute, 39 Second

The big story at the box office last week was Crazy Rich Asians, which had a heroic showing in its opening frame. The modestly-budgeted, Asian-led production pulled in an impressive $26.5M last weekend, and it’s expected to dip very mildly in its second frame. That’s bad news for Melissa McCarthy’s The Happytime Murders, which was hoping to close out the summer season with an R-rated comedy hit, but now looks poised to play second fiddle to last week’s champ.

As things stand, Hollywood beancounters are expecting Crazy Rich Asians to drop a mere 30% and make another $18M this weekend. Even those who aren’t quite as optimistic are saying it could earn $16M, which would still be higher than the $13M to $15M The Happytime Murders is tracking to make. And if McCarthy’s film slips any lower than the bottom of its tracking, it could get swallowed up by The Meg which smells blood in the water and is looking at a $12M third weekend.

Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible- Fallout is continuing to quietly add to its already-impressive haul. The sixth Mission: Impossible film, which has yet to open in China where it’s expected to do fantastic numbers, is expected to make $7M domestically. As things stand, Tom Cruise’s latest outing as Ethan Hunt has made $512,113,727worldwide. If it keeps pace, and performs as well (or better) in China as other recent M:I films have there, the film could become the biggest earner of the entire 22 year old series.

For now, all eyes are on Crazy Rich Asians to see if it’ll continue to shatter barriers and show Hollywood that an Asian-led production can do great numbers here in the States. In its first seven days alone, the $30M movie made $48,817,388 worldwide, and Deadline thinks its a shoe-in to make north of $100M domestically when all is said and done. Very impressive.

SOURCE: Box Office Mojo / Deadline