The third instalment in the Denzel Washington-led Equalizer franchise topped the US box office this weekend with 34.5 million dollars (£27.4 million) according to studio estimates on Sunday.
By the end of the Monday Labour Day holiday, Sony expects that total will rise to 42 million dollars (£33.4 million).
Labour Day signals the end of Hollywood’s summer movie season, which will likely surpass four billion dollars (£3.18 billion) in ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic thanks in no small part to Barbie and Oppenheimer, which are still netting records even after seven weeks in cinemass.
This weekend, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie officially became the biggest movie of 2023 taking more than 1.36 billion dollars (£1.08 billion) globally, surpassing The Super Mario Bros Movie, while Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer sailed past 850 million dollars (£675 million) globally to become the number three movie of the year and Nolan’s third highest grossing.
The Equalizer 3 arrived at a fraught time for Hollywood, with actors seven weeks into a strike for fair contracts with major entertainment companies and cinemas bracing for a somewhat depleted autumn season as a result.
The ongoing Sag-Aftra strike meant Washington was unable to promote the movie, which was directed by his frequent collaborator Antoine Fuqua and brings his vigilante character Robert McCall to Italy’s Amalfi coast.
While the lack of a major star on a promotional tour would normally be considered a liability for a film’s box office potential, Equalizer 3 may be the rare exception that could withstand a rollout without Washington’s help because it is a recognisable franchise.
Sony opened the R-rated Equalizer 3 in more than 3,900 locations in North America, including on IMAX and premium large format screens.
With co-financing from TSG and Eagle Pictures, the film carried a 70 million dollar (£55.6 million) production price tag. The film received generally positive reviews from critics (76% on Rotten Tomatoes) and overwhelmingly positive reviews from audiences, who gave it an A on CinemaScore and a five-star PostTrak rating.
“One of the biggest movie stars in the world took us out on a high note,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “Studios often coast to Labour Day, but Sony was smart to choose this weekend to open The Equalizer 3.”
In second place, Barbie added 10.6 million dollars (£8.4 million) over the weekend in the US and Canada, pushing its domestic total to 609.5 million dollars (£484 million).
Warner Bros’s other main theatrical offering, Blue Beetle added 7.3 million dollars (£5.8 million) to take third. The DC superhero film has grossed 56.6 million dollars (£44.9 million) in three weekends in North America.
Fourth place went to Sony’s Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story, which is projecting 8.5 million dollars (£6.75 million) including Monday.
Oppenheimer landed in fifth place on the US charts.
The Universal film opened in China on Wednesday, playing on 35,000 screens, where it is estimated to have made 30.3 million dollars (£24 million) in its first five days. A significant portion of that came from 736 IMAX screens.
IMAX chief executive Rich Gelfond said in a statement that Oppenheimer’s China debut showed that “it’s nowhere near finished dazzling audiences worldwide”.
Mr Gelfond added that its success also offers “a powerful demonstration of our surging market share around the world”.
