Weekend Box Office Report: August 10-12, 2018

The Meg chomps into first place!

Jason Statham's battle with the mother of all sharks was the biggest draw at the box office this weekend as THE MEG opened with an estimated $44.5 million!

Directed by Jon Turteltaub (NATIONAL TREASURE, COOL RUNNINGS), the long-in-development adaptation of Steve Alten's book also swallowed $97 million from international audiences for a worldwide opening of $141.5 million.

The PG-13 ocean terror was a solid domestic opener for August (the 14th highest), but it's still a small fish compared to the likes of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ($94 million) and SUICIDE SQUAD ($133 million).

The pulpy creature feature, which also features Ruby Rose, Cliff Curtis and Li Bingbing, cost a reported $130 million (although some rumors place the actual final figure closer to $175 million).

For star Jason Statham, his sea struggle with the Megalodon was not only his biggest opening when he's in the lead role, it has already topped the domestic totals of all his previous "above the title" movies (TRANSPORTER 2 comes closest with a $43 million domestic finish). However, his appearances as part of the expansive FAST & FURIOUS ensemble remain his biggest domestic earners ($147 million opening for FURIOUS 7, $98.7 million for last year's THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS).

Critics weren't too excited about taking a dip with Statham and the gargantuan man-eater, giving the thriller a 49% average on Rotten Tomatoes. You can dive into the JoBlo review HERE.

After two weekends on top, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT fell to second place with $20 million. The $178 million Tom Cruise thriller (his sixth as agent Ethan Hunt) now has a domestic total of $161.9 million and $437.5 million worldwide.

In third place was Disney's CHRISTOPHER ROBIN with $12.4 million, down by 49% from its opening last week. The PG-rated reunion of the title character (played by Ewan McGregor) and his fuzzy childhood chum Winnie the Pooh has a ten-day domestic total of $50 million (on a reported $70 million cost).

Opening in fourth place was the new horror movie SLENDER MAN with $11.3 million.

Based on the unsettling internet creepypasta story of a faceless boogeyman, the PG-13 release (originally scheduled to haunt theaters in May) cost a reported $10 million.

Critics dismissed the spooky urban legend with a 15% average on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review can be found HERE, courtesy of Arrow in the Head).

In fifth place was filmmaker Spike Lee's new movie BLACKKKLANSMAN with an opening of $10.7 million.

The comedy-drama with John David Washington and Adam Driver had the third-best opening of Lee's career, behind the $11 million start of stand-up movie THE ORIGINAL KINGS OF COMEDY back in 2000 and the $28.9 million opening of the 2006 heist thriller INSIDE MAN (featuring his current star's dad Denzel Washington).

Released on 1500 screens, BLACKKKLANSMAN also had the second-best per-screen average in the Top 10 behind the giant shark movie up in first. The R-rated movie, based on a true story of a black detective infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan (with some help from his white coworker), cost a reported $15 million.

Critics applauded the fact-based undercover operation, giving Lee's latest effort an average of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes. Check out the JoBlo review right HERE.

The Mila Kunis/Kate McKinnon team-up THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME was in sixth place with $6.6 million, slipping by 45% from last week's opening. The R-rated action-comedy has a ten-day domestic total of $24.5 million (on a reported cost of $40 million).

ABBA-fueled musical MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN was in seventh with $5.8 million for the weekend, bringing the $75 million romcom sequel to $103.8 million domestic and $280.8 million worldwide. (The original MAMMA MIA! ended with a staggering $609 million global total.)

Toward the bottom was the R-rated Denzel Washington sequel THE EQUALIZER 2 with $5.5 million, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION with $5.1 million, and Marvel's ANT-MAN AND THE WASP at the bottom with $4 million as it passed $200 million domestic and made it to $449 million worldwide.

Outside the chart, THE DARKEST MINDS disappeared after one week in the Top 10, TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES went home, and Pixar's INCREDIBLES 2 finally rested after two months on the list (and with a billion dollars worldwide in their pockets).

The new canine comedy DOG DAYS wasn't exactly man's best friend with $2.6 million for the weekend. And Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's action-thriller SKYSCRAPER may have toppled out of the domestic chart last week, but it's still climbing to $300 million worldwide.

Next weekend has Mark Walhberg shooting at people in director Peter Berg's MILE 22, a boy domesticates a wolf in the historical drama ALPHA, and (on Wednesday) the romantic comedy adaptation CRAZY RICH ASIANS hits screens.

What is your favorite shark movie (other than JAWS)? VOTE HERE!