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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 21 august 2017
‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ outdoes ‘Logan Lucky’ at box office

By LINDSEY BAHR according to studio esti-
AP Film Writer mates Sunday, while “Lo-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Critics gan Lucky” sputtered on
loved “Logan Lucky” and arrival with $8.1 million.
gave a big collective shrug Both had notable stars,
to “The Hitman’s Body- “Logan Lucky” has Chan-
guard,” but when it came ning Tatum and Daniel
to the test of the market- Craig, while “The Hitman’s
place, audiences went Bodyguard” boasts Ryan
their own way. Reynolds and Samuel L.
The two action flicks faced Jackson, both were open-
off this weekend, and ing in over 3,000 theaters
“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” and both cost around $30
emerged the victor with a million to produce. Also,
chart-topping $21.6 million, both were targeted to-

This image released by Warner Bros Pictures shows Lulu Wilson in “Annabelle: Creation.”
(Warner Brothers Pictures via AP)
ward adults, although one cape.” prepared for any scenario.
was R-rated (“Hitman’s Lionsgate, which distrib- “At least we got to do it the
Bodyguard”) and one PG- uted “The Hitman’s Body- way we wanted to do it,”
13 (“Logan Lucky”). guard,” expects the film to he said.
But when it came to reviews, play well into September. Dergarabedian posited
critics vastly preferred “Lo- While it’s not an all-out that the limited exposure
gan Lucky,” which boasts flop, the stakes were a little for Soderbergh and the
a “fresh” 93 percent Rotten higher for “Logan Lucky.” producers means that “Lo-
Tomatoes score, while “The The NASCAR heist pic was gan Lucky” could still be a
Hitman’s Bodyguard” rests not only director Steven winning endeavor, despite
at a “rotten” 39 percent. Soderbergh’s big return to coming in behind the hor-
And yet, when presented movies after a four-year re- ror holdover “Annabelle:
with the choice, audiences tirement, but meant to also Creation,” which earned
on the whole put their dol- upend the traditional dis- $15.5 million in its second
lars toward “The Hitman’s tribution model with crafty weekend.
Bodyguard.” Even the Cin- filmmaker-driven know In fourth place was Chris-
emaScore was flipped with how, independent financ- topher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,”
“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” ing, foreign and streaming one of the summer’s bigger
earning a B+ and “Logan service sales and a more successes, with $6.7 million,
Lucky” a B — neither of concentrated and cheap- which bumped its domes-
which, it should be noted, er marketing push. tic total to $165.5 million.
is particularly promising for An $8.1 million debut from And there were a few
future word of mouth. over 3,000 screens, how- milestones too: The buddy
“It was a battle of the ac- ever, isn’t enough to make comedy “Girls Trip” sailed
tion ensemble cast movies. a game-changing splash. past the $100 million mark
Audiences looked at these In fact, it’s Soderbergh’s domestically, and “Wonder
two action movies in the lowest wide-opening since Woman” crossed $800 mil-
marketplace and made a his “Solaris” remake, which lion worldwide.
decision,” said Paul Derga- opened to $6.8 million in But overall the box office is
rabedian, a senior media 2002. “Solaris” did have still losing.
analyst for comScore. “I a higher production bud- As of this weekend, com-
think for audiences they’re get than “Logan Lucky’s” Score estimates that the
just looking for the fun of though. summer season is down 13
it ... (“The Hitman’s Body- Prior to the film’s release, percent from last year, and
guard”) was critic proof. Soderbergh told The As- the year as a whole is down
It provided a perfect es- sociated Press that he was 5 percent.q

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