It Ends With Us Triumphs While Borderlands Flops

August continues to produce big numbers. Blake Lively’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s novel “It Ends With Us” scored big, earning a massive $50 million from 4,230 theaters. That’s a significant step up from the take of Sony’s “Where the Crawdads Sing” ($17M) and yet another reminder that female-skewed dramas, particularly those inspired by books, lead to strong box office.

As impressive as that number was, Lively couldn’t dethrone her husband Ryan Reynolds’ “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which earned $54M in its third weekend and has now grossed $1.029 billion worldwide. The Marvel team-up action/comedy still has a long way to go to surpass “Inside Out 2” ($1.593B) as the top-grossing picture of 2024. Currently, Shawn Levy’s film ranks No. 48 among the all-time worldwide earners.

Elsewhere, Eli Roth’s video game adaptation, “Borderlands,” fell flat with a disappointing $8.8M. Ouch. The $110-120M picture earned dismal reviews (9% on RottenTomatoes) and failed to generate much interest despite its “Guardians of the Galaxy”-esque vibe.

NEON’s “Cuckoo” collected a solid $3M against a $7M budget, according to Deadline.

This week sees the release of Fede Álvarez’s “Alien: Romulus,” which numerous pundits are projecting to hit anywhere from $35-$50M in its opening weekend. Will Summer 2024 go out with a bang?

Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10

1.) “Deadpool & Wolverine” (Dis) 4,230 (+20) theaters, Fri $15.6M (-44%) 3-day $55.8M (-42%), Total $495.9M/Wk 3

2.) “It Ends With Us” (Sony) 3,611 theaters, Fri $24M, 3-day $45M-$49M/Wk 1

3.) “Twisters” (Uni/WB) 3,664 (-345) theaters, $4.4M (-33%), 3-day $15.4M(-32%), Total $222.7M/Wk 4

4.) “Borderlands” (LG) 3,125 theaters, Fri $4M, 3-day $8M-$10M/Wk 1

5.) “Despicable Me 4” (Uni) 3,009 (-367) theaters, Fri $2.5M (-25%) 3-day $8.75M (-24%), Total $330.8M/Wk 6

6.) “Trap” (WB) 3,181 theaters, Fri $2M (-69%) 3-day $6.7M (-56%), Total $28.7M/Wk 2

7.) “Inside Out 2” (Dis) 2,200 (-415) theaters, Fri $1.5M (-24%) 3-day $5.2M (-23%) Total $636.7M/Wk 9

8.) “Harold and the Purple Crayon” (Sony) 3,325 theaters, Fri $1M (-56%), 3-day $3.5M (-42%)/Total $13.2M/ Wk 2

9.) “Cuckoo” (NEON) 1,503 theaters, Fri $1.35M 3-day $3M, Wk 1

10.) “Longlegs” (NEON) 1,310 (-840) theaters, Fri $600K (-54%), 3-day $1.9M (-55%), Total $71.1M/Wk 5

Source: Deadline, ComingSoon.net