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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 24 July 2017
Victory for ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Girls Trip’ at the box office

By LINDSEY BAHR estimated $50.5 million to
AP Film Writer easily top the charts, ac-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s cording to Warner Bros.,
victory for “Dunkirk” and while the raucous comedy
“Girls Trip” at the box office “Girls Trip” broke the R-rat-
this weekend. Both origi- ed comedy slump of 2017
nal and well-reviewed films with $30.4 million to take
smashed expectations and second place.
enticed diverse audienc- “Dunkirk” was far from an
es to the theaters, even inevitable summer success,
though cumulatively sum- but stellar reviews, awards
mer remains down from last buzz and hype around the
year. film’s large-scale produc-
Christopher Nolan’s World tion helped drive people
War II epic brought in an to the theater and large-

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Regina Hall, from left, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen
Latifah and Tiffany Haddish in a scene from the comedy “Girls Trip.”
(Michele K. Short/Universal Pictures via AP)

format screens. and Queen Latifah as a with audiences.
“We’re beyond thrilled with group of girlfriends who “When the taste for enter-
this exceptional achieve- head to New Orleans for tainment and comedy has
ment for ‘Dunkirk,’” said a weekend of fun. The Uni- been somewhat under-
Jeff Goldstein, who heads versal film drew in an audi- served, it is not because
distribution for Warner Bros. ence that was 79 percent people aren’t interested in
“The critical reception female and 50 percent un- laughing, it’s that they’re
worldwide has been con- der the age of 30. Fifty-nine waiting for something fun-
sistently effusive. It really percent of attendees were ny to come along,” said
propelled this movie that estimated to be African- Nick Carpou, Universal’s
wasn’t an obvious win.” American. president of domestic dis-
Audiences were 60 per- Notably, audiences gave tribution. “One of the great
cent male and 76 percent the film a stellar A+ Cin- things about this comedy is
over the age of 25 for the emaScore, suggesting the that it’s really funny.”
PG-13 rated film, while film will have long-term Not so successful was Luc
IMAX audiences represent- playability. Besson’s nearly $180 million
ed 23 percent of the mar- “’Girls Trip’ was a perfect- sci-fi epic “Valerian and the
ket share (or $11.7 million of ly counter-programmed City of a Thousand Planets,”
the total grosses from only box office surprise,” Der- which earned $17 million
402 screens). garabedian said. “It broke from North American the-
“It became a must-see the R-rated comedy curse aters over the weekend for
event,” said Paul Derga- that has afflicted this sum- a fifth-place start. It came
rabedian, a senior media mer with ‘Baywatch,’ in behind “Spider-Man:
analyst for comScore. ‘Snatched,’ ‘Rough Night’ Homecoming,” in third in its
Drawing quite a different and ‘The House.’” third weekend with $22 mil-
audience was the buddy For Universal, the formula lion and “War for the Planet
comedy “Girls Trip,” starring is more simple: “Girls Trip,” of the Apes” in fourth place
Regina Hall, Tiffany Had- unlike the aforementioned in its second weekend with
dish, Jada Pinkett Smith comedies, is resonating $20.4 million.q

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