Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 4 SepteMber 2017
A slow Labor Day caps a down summer at the box office

By LINDSEY BAHR which had the potential
AP Film Writer to be the worst since 1992,
LOS ANGELES (AP) — With but that’s hardly cause for
no new wide releases, Hol- celebration. While official
lywood basically took the numbers for the four-day
Labor Day weekend off weekend won’t be avail-
and put an end to what’s able until Tuesday, studio
expected to be the lowest estimates and projections
earning summer movie go- expect that in total this La-
ing season since 2006 — the bor Day weekend will be
last time the industry saw a the lowest earning since
sub-$4 billion summer. 1998.
Things weren’t as apoca- “There’s no sugar coating
lyptic as analysts suggested the fact that this was a very
going into the weekend, slow labor day weekend,”

This image released by Lionsgate shows Samuel L. Jackson, left, and Ryan Reynolds in “The Hit-
man’s Bodyguard.”

said Paul Dergarabedian, Steven Soderbergh’s “Lo- advance of its Sept. 29 pre-
the senior media analyst gan Lucky” rounded out miere on ABC.
for comScore. “This was a the top five with $4.4 mil- Still, Dergarbedian notes
fitting end to a rough sum- lion. that both smartly took ad-
mer.” Audiences did have a few vantage of a quiet week-
Some did make it out to the unconventional options to end and added money to
multiplexes over the holi- choose from this weekend, the bottom line.
day weekend, though. Ac- including a 40th anniver- And as Hollywood looks to
cording to studio estimates sary re-release of Steven forget the dismal summer
on Sunday, the R-rated ac- Spielberg’s sci-fi classic of 2017, which will likely cap
tioner “The Hitman’s Body- “Close Encounters of the out with just over $3.8 billion,
guard” topped the charts Third Kind” and an IMAX- there is a bright spot on the
for a third weekend with only run of the pilot episode horizon in the form of a red
$10.3 million. The Samuel of Marvel’s “Inhumans.” balloon and a homicidal
L. Jackson and Ryan Reyn- Neither made a significant clown as “It” prepares to
olds pic has earned a total splash, though. break records when it hits
of $54.9 million from North “Close Encounters of the theaters next weekend.
American theaters. Third Kind” earned $1.8 Estimated ticket sales for Fri-
In second place was the million from 901 locations, day through Sunday at U.S.
horror spinoff “Annabelle: while “Inhumans” took in and Canadian theaters,
Creation,” from Warner $1.5 million from 393 North according to comScore.q
Bros., which added $7.3 American IMAX screens in
million, bumping its domes-
tic total to $89 million.
The Weinstein Company
took spots three and four,
with the crime drama
“Wind River” in third with
$5.9 million, and the ani-
mated family film “Leap!”
in fourth with $4.9 million.
However the company’s
new opener, the long-
delayed period romance
“Tulip Fever,” wilted on re-
lease. Playing in 765 loca-
tions, the R-rated drama
starring Alicia Vikander and
Dane DeHaan, earned
only $1.2 million.