Never doubt the power of an A-list superstar. The Denzel Washington-led Equalizer 3 destroyed all competition at the domestic box office en route to a $42 million 4-day weekend ($34.5M 3-day) after an impressive $13.1M Friday, per Deadline. That’s about on par with the previous two entries in Antoine Fuqua’s franchise, a hair under The Equalizer 2 ($36M) and just over The Equalizer ($34M).
Regarding Washington’s filmography, The Equalizer 3 marks his fifth biggest opening behind American Gangster ($43.5M), Safe House ($40.1M), The Equalizer 2, and The Magnificent Seven ($34.7M). Worldwide, The Equalizer 3 sits at a solid $68M and will likely hit the $190M worldwide threshold of its predecessors if the A CinemaScore holds.
On IMAX, the action epic earned $3.4M from 360 locations, splitting the screens with Oppenheimer.
Speaking of Christopher Nolan’s epic, the R-rated thriller surpassed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to become the third highest-grossing movie of the year with $852.9M worldwide and $310.2M domestic. It’s also the second highest-grossing R-rated pic worldwide (unadjusted for inflation) behind Joker ($1.075B).
The only other newcomers are MGM’s Bottoms, which pulled in a solid $3M 3-day/$3.58M 4-day from 715 theaters, and Kushi, which earned $1.04M from 336 locations.
Box Office Results:
1.) Equalizer 3 (Sony) Fri $13.1M Sat $11.1M Sun $10.2M Mon $7.5M 3-day $34.5M, 4-day $42M/Wk 1
2.) Barbie (WB) 3,586 (-150) theaters, Fri $2.5M (-38 %) Sat $3.85M Sun $4.2M Mon $2.4M $3-day $10.6M (-30%) 4-day $13M/Total $611.8M/Wk 7
3.) Blue Beetle 3,316 (-555) theaters, Fri $1.55M (-42%), Sat $2.7M Sun $3M Mon $1.7M 3-day $7.27M (-40%), 4-day $9M/Total $58.3M/Wk 3
4.) Gran Turismo (Sony) 3,856 theaters, Fri $1.56M (-82%) Sat $2.4M Sun $2.5M Mon $1.97M 3-day $6.55M 4-day $8.5M, total $30.6M/Total Wk 2
5.) Oppenheimer (Uni) 2,543 (-329) theaters Fri $1.3M (-42%) Sat $2M Sun $2.1M Mon $1.7M 3-day $5.5M (-33%) 4-day $7.2M/Total $310.2M/Wk 7
6.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Par) 2,955 (-190) theaters Fri $1.04M (-32%) Sat $1.8M Sun $1.9M Mon $1.5M 3-day $4.77M (-34%), 4-day $6.3M,Total $107.99M/Wk 5
7.) Meg 2: The Trench (WB) 2,371 (-561) theaters Fri $600K (-44%) Sat $1.1M Sun $1.2M Mon $1M 3-day $2.94M (-39%) 4-day $4M/Total $79.4M/ Wk 5
8.) Bottoms (MGM) 715 (+705) theaters, Fri $1.27M (+452%) Sat $875K Sun $832K Mon $582K, 3-day $3M (+552%) 4-day $3.58M, Total $4.3M/Wk 2
9.) Strays (Uni) 2,486 (-746) theaters, Fri $620K (-47%) Sat $950K Sun $950K Mon $660K 3-day $2.52M (-49%), 4-day $3.18M Total $21.3M/ Wk 3
10.) Talk to Me (A24) 1,075 (-246) theaters Fri $449K (-26%) Sat $674K Sun $640K Mon $473K 3-day $1.76M(-26%) 4-day $2.2M Total $44.5M/Wk 6