Box Office: “Dunkirk” soars, “Girls Trip” “get turnt,” “Valerian” bombs and “Apes” go extinct

box

“Dunkirk” had a good Thursday night and a very good Friday at the box office, and projections now put it at $51 million+ on its opening weekend.

Christopher Nolan, name brand director, delivers. Reviews have been great, if word of mouth is as strong, expect this to carry over Saturday and Sunday — $57 -60 is now the high end of expectations.

Not bad for a $150 million war movie with little dialogue, barely a single female face in it, no true “box office” stars (Tom Hardy’s quote, however, is spiking as I type) and historical subject matter.

Will Nolan ever do another comic book movie? Not if he doesn’t want to.

Luc Besson talked a lot of folks out of a LOT of money for the potential Euro-blockbuster “Valerian.” It’s dazzling, and dumb. Spend a dime on a rewrite, Frenchy. And spend SOME of your money on actors. “Valerian” cost $200 million, and it’s on a pace to pull in just over $16 million on its opening weekend in the US. Whatever it earns, it’ll have to be in Europe and Asia. It won’t reach $35, all-in, in the US.

girls2 “Girls Trip” is the other dazzling opening this weekend, a cheap New Orleans sex, sin and Stoli romp that is headed for $30 million, or damn near close to it. Name actresses, but not a box office draw among them. BIG laughs and very good reviews are giving this African American bacchanal cross-over appeal. Some of the dirtiest laughs you’re going to have in a theater are up front and in your face in the movie Amy Schumer would have KILLED to be in.

MEANWHILE — “Spider-Man: Homecoming” re-asserted its dominance over simians during the past week, and that is holding true this weekend. The web slinger is dropping another 50-60% of its last weekend audience, to about $20-21 — but “War for the Planet of the Apes” is in a death spiral, with audiences rejecting the glum, over-praised and downbeat finale in that series. An $18 million weekend means a 68% drop from its opening weekend.

That’s called a “Tyler Perry Plunge,” in box office terms — a second weekend where word of mouth and competition wipes out whatever mark the movie made on its opening.