Weekend Box Office: 'Annabelle' Scare Tactics Work, August Remains Sluggish
Time Warner (TWX) New Line Cinema's origin horror film "Annabelle: Creation" cashed in with $35 million in opening weekend sales, beating expectations the horror flick would open in the $25 million to $30 million range, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
But Annabelle's beat wasn't enough to boost slow August sales in movie theaters. Revenue was down over 30% from the same weekend last year. Summer to date revenue is down 12% from last year and so far in 2017, theater revenue is trailing 4% from where it was in 2016.
"The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature" from AMC Entertainment-owned (AMC) - Get Report and Regal Entertainment-owned (RGC) Open Road Films brought in just $8.9 million this weekend, trailing expectations it would open to $15 million and making only about half what its original "The Nut Job" film opened to in 2014.
In independent theaters, "The Glass Castle" opened in 1,500 theaters to $4.9 million in sales, putting it in line with expectations. The film, based on Jeannette Walls' best-selling memoir of the same name, skewed 80% female.
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