“The Equalizer 3” is still on track to earn the second-biggest Labor Day opening weekend in history with an estimated $42.3 million.
Denzel Washington’s assassin-thriller surpassed the previous Labor Day debut runner-up: Rob Zombie’s 2007 “Halloween” remake, which grossed $30 million through Monday. Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” still holds the Labor Day crown with a $94.6 million four-day opening in 2021.
“Equalizer 3’s” three-day domestic figure of $34.5 million is nearly the same as its predecessors. The 2015 original grossed $34 million in a traditional three-day frame, while the 2018 sequel scored $36 million. With a $70 million production budget co-financed by TSG and Eagle Pictures, Columbia Pictures’ “Equalizer 3” is targeting a similar performance by the end of its run. The third installment earned an “A” grade on CinemaScore and holds a 75% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” overtook “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” as the highest-grossing worldwide release of the year with $1.38 billion. In its seventh weekend of release, the hot-pink comedy remained in second place at the domestic box office with $13.1 million over the four-day frame.
“Blue Beetle” landed at No. 3 spot in its third weekend of release, earning $9.2 million through Monday. Although the DC Studios’ comic book film is maintaining better grosses than this year’s “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and “The Flash,” “Blue Beetle’s” $57 million in North American ticket sales will not likely justify its $104 million production budget.
Last weekend’s arguable victor “Gran Turismo” decelerated to fourth place with $8.5 million through the Labor Day holiday. Sony’s $60 million-budgeted racing drama has generated a domestic total of $30.6 million to date.
