Don’t Let Go Will Close Out Brutal Summer Box Office on a Quiet Note

For any studio not named Disney, it’s been a pretty brutal summer at the box office. While there have been a few bright spots here and there, for the most part, this has not been the season that many had hoped it perhaps could have been, from a financial standpoint anyway. With Labor Day weekend on the horizon, it more or less signals the end of the summer moviegoing season and the beginning of fall. And it’s going to be an abysmal send-off, as the only wide release is Blumhouse’s Don’t Let Go, which isn’t exactly going to break the bank.

Don’t Let Go is being released by Blumhouse Tilt and the movie boasts a solid cast led by Oscar-nominee David Oyelowo and up-and-comer Storm Reid. The sci-fi-tinged crime thriller was written and directed by Jacob Estes. While the trailers have painted this as an intriguing whodunit with a twist, critics haven’t been terribly kind so far. As of this writing, it boasts just a 52 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s looking at a take between $3 and $5 million for the weekend box office. Luckily, as with most Blumhouse flicks, this was made on a dime and shouldn’t serve as a loss for the studio.

But that’s abysmal for the week’s only other wide release. To that point, the weekend’s top earner will likely be Angel Has Fallen, the third entry in the “Fallen” series that debuted last weekend. The Gerard Butler-led actioner should nab between $11 and $14 million in its second frame. Again, for the top spot on any given weekend at the box office, that’s rough. It gets worse from there, as the two, three and four spots should go to Good Boys, Hobbs & Shaw and The Lion King, respectively. They’ll all be dancing in the $5 to $7 million range.

For a holiday weekend, it’s going to be almost painful to look at the final results for the weekend when the numbers come in. Roughly speaking, the top ten movies combined at the box office from Friday to Sunday are probably going to pull in around $50 million. That says a lot. But that’s indicative of the summer we’ve had. Case in point, the biggest non-Disney hit was Spider-Man: Far from Home, which is getting a re-release this weekend (though it probably won’t make much of a splash). And even that was produced by the Disney-owned Marvel Studios.

Outside of the Mouse House, one of the biggest hits was John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, which took in $321 million globally. But considering Disney has five (yes, five) movies that have crossed the $1 billion mark in 2019, and Avengers: Endgame, which now holds the all-time record with $2.79 billion, it really allows for some perspective. Hobbs & Shaw will likely cross the $600 million mark globally this weekend, which is good news for Universal at least. Looking ahead to next weekend, things get brighter, and bloodier, as IT Chapter Two looks to give the box office a much needed shot in the arm. Be sure to check out our full list of weekend box office predictions below. Numbers used in this report were provided by Box Office Mojo.

Topics: Dont Let Go, Box Office