Warner Bros. will be relying on a couple of clowns this fall after a lackluster summer at the box office.
"It: Chapter Two" and "Joker," both distributed by Warner Bros., are expected to give the studio a much-needed boost at the box office. Warner Bros. released two duds in a row the last two weekends: "The Kitchen" and "Blinded by the Light."
"The Kitchen," starring Melissa McCarthy and based on a DC Comics graphic novel, opened with $5.5 million domestically — the second-worst debut for a movie in over 2,700 theaters this year, behind only "Poms." It cost $38 million to make.
"Blinded by the Light," inspired by the music of Bruce Springsteen, opened with just $4 million in 2,300 theaters in the US over the weekend.
Warner Bros.' biggest bet this summer, "Godzilla: King of the Monsters," wasn't a complete failure, but it underperformed. The sequel cost $170 million to make (before marketing costs), and grossed $385 million worldwide after opening in May. Its predecessor, 2014's "Godzilla," made almost $140 million more globally with $529 million.
But "It: Chapter Two," the sequel to the 2017 horror blockbuster based on Stephen King's novel, is right around the corner. The movie, which comes to theaters September 6, is expected to surpass the first movie's opening weekend of $123 million domestically, which broke the record for the biggest horror-movie opening of all time (before inflation). Boxoffice.com is projecting it to open with $138 million.
Then in October, "Joker" could break another record. Boxoffice.com is projecting the movie to earn $81 million in its opening weekend, which would be the biggest October opening of all time, surpassing last year's "Venom," which made $80 million. And the movie is gaining momentum (Boxoffice.com originally predicted it would make $77 million).
"Thanks to films like the Deadpool movies and Logan, audiences have shown their appetite for well-made, adult-driven, R-rated comic book movies," Boxoffice.com chief analyst Shawn Robbins wrote in his original long-range forecast. "Through that lens, this isn't perceived as the major risk it may have been just a few years ago."
