Sequels have been performing well at the box office this summer and this is holding true for “Angel Has Fallen”, which brought in $21.2 million at the domestic box office to capture this weekend’s #1 spot.
“We wanted to give enough distance from the big summer tentpole films,” Lionsgate’s president of domestic distribution David Spitz told Variety of the studio’s strategy of waiting until late August to release the film. “We had the opportunity, and the movie really delivered.”
In this sequel to 2013’s “Olympus Has Fallen”, Gerard Butler reprises the role of Secret Service Agent Mike Banning, who must clear his name after being framed for an assassination attempt on the POTUS (Morgan Freeman).
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“Audiences loved the movie,” added Spitz. “Because of the strong exit polls, the movie should have a nice long run in theatres.”
Last week’s box office champ, “Good Boys” dropped to second place with $11.7 million domestically in its second weekend of release, for an impressive two-week total of $42 million — a phenomenal showing for an R-rated comedy that only cost $20 million to make.
Rounding out the weekend’s top five, according to figures from Box Office Mojo are: faith-based drama “Overcomer” in third place with $8.2 million domestically in its debut weekend; Disney’s “The Lion King”, adding an additional $8.1 million to a six-week domestic total of $510 million; and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” in fifth place with $8.1 million in week four for a total domestic tally of $200 million.
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Meanwhile, Box Office Mojo is also reporting “Hobbs & Shaw” is breaking records internationally now that this week finally saw the movie open in China, where it brought in $120 million, China’s biggest August opening ever. This now puts the film at a whopping $588.9 million worldwide.
