Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.'s Dunkirk earned another $5.19 million on Thursday, actually rising 0.3% from its $5.17m Wednesday gross. That brings the over/under $100m-budgeted World War II drama's seven-day domestic cume to $74.703m.
In terms of relevant comparisons, it’s playing close to the likes of Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation ($55.5 million weekend/$79.2m seven-day cume), War for the Planet of the Apes ($56.2m/$77.3m), Jason Bourne ($59.2m/$80.7m) and Star Trek Beyond ($59.2m/$81.7m).
But Dunkirk obviously opened at $50.5 million and not $55-$60m, and there is a good chance that it will take a second-weekend tumble much closer to Mission: Impossible 5 (-48%) than War for the Planet of the Apes (-63%). The film is well-liked, well-reviewed and the beneficiary of mostly positive press as it heads into its second weekend.
Moreover, even though it’s late July, it is essentially the summer’s final “big” movie. Sure, Atomic Blonde, The Dark Tower, Annabelle: Creation and/or The Hitman’s Bodyguard could break out in relation to expectations and budget, but those films were much cheaper than Dunkirk and aren’t expected to go nuts. So, like Inception, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rush Hour 2 and The Fugitive before it, Dunkirk will win big by going last.
It’s also another case of Warner Bros. doing right by what was once their favorite release date. And even if they have spread the wealth somewhat in terms of where to open their big movies, that mid-July slot is still there for Nolan whenever he wants it. From 2005 to around 2013, Warner Bros. scored again and again in that key “summer ends by July” slot.
They scored a series of leggy hits starting in the summer of 2005 with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ($56 million opening/$206m domestic total) and then again in 2007 with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ($139m Wed-Sun debut/$295m total), The Dark Knight in 2008 ($158m/$533m), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2009 ($158m Wed-Sun/$300m total), Inception in 2010 ($62m/$292m), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part II in 2011 ($169m/$381m), The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 ($160m/$448m) and The Conjuring ($41m/$137m) in 2013.
Had things gone according to plan, Batman v Superman would have opened on this weekend in July of 2015, but they fled to March 25, 2016 and Walt Disney’s Ant-Man poached the spot as a kind of cruel prank. And Ant-Man turned out to be Marvel’s second-leggiest movie, turning a $57m debut into a $181m domestic total. And since they opted to open Suicide Squad in August (arguably the right call considering the whole $133m opening/$325m domestic total thing), it’s been awhile since Warner Bros. dropped a somewhat prestigious “end the summer on a high note” biggie on this weekend.
No, summer didn’t end in mid-to-late July in any of those years. 2010 had Salt and The Expendables (Atomic Blonde and The Hitman’s Bodyguard this year?), 2011 had Captain America, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Help, and 2007 had The Simpsons Movie, The Bourne Ultimatum and Rush Hour 3. But, and this is especially true of the years when Nolan dropped a Batman sequel or Inception, the summer essentially climaxed once the Nolan biggie rode into town.
That’s part of why his films were leggy, especially in 2010 when Inception provided sweet relief for what otherwise had been a miserable summer for big movies. And now, with The Dark Tower, Annabelle: Creation and The Hitman’s Bodyguard ending the season on a comparatively smaller-scale note, Dunkirk has the opportunity to ride it out until September. Next year will see the slot occupied by Mama Mia: Here We Go Again, ten years after the opening weekend of the first film, while 2019 will see said slot occupied by Walt Disney’s The Lion King. We’ll see if WB gets its prime slot back before or after Chris Nolan decides on his next project.
