Universal’s Tom Cruise action pic American Made, Fox’s Kingsman: the Golden Circle and New Line’s It are all battling for the top spot at this weekend’s North American box office. Estimates showed Saturday that all three movies were heading for around $16.5 million for the Friday-Sunday period amid moderate overall business. Sony’s reboot of Flatliners showed little life in its launch with $6 million at 2,552 locations, coming in below what were already modest expectations.
The opening of American Made is performing slightly above expectations, which had been in the $13 million to $15 million range earlier in the week. The biopic, playing at 3,023 North American locations, stars Cruise as pilot Barry Seal, who was recruited by the CIA to help take down the South America drug cartel after being arrested for smuggling in the 1980s.
American Made has received the strongest critical support for a recent Cruise title with a current 87% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Financed by Cross Creek Pictures with an estimated $50 million budget, the film generated $60 million internationally as it launched last weekend in 57 territories in a performance that underlined Cruise’s strong appeal outside the United States.
The second weekend of spy comedy sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle had been pegged Friday to repeat as the box office winner with about $18 million but Saturday’s estimates placed it slightly lower. The spy comedy sequel should wind up the weekend around $66 million in its first 10 days.
New Line’s fourth weekend of horror blockbuster It — which has revitalized movigoing during September — remained a powerful player at multiplexes as it drew $4.9 million at 3,917 venues on Friday, its 22nd day. It is already the fifth highest grosser of 2017, trailing only Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man: Homecoming.
