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Lowest box-office weekend since 2001 puts Mayweather vs. McGregor in top 10

How to watch the mayweather-mcgregor fight online
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Whether it was the effects of Hurricane Harvey, the draw of the highly publicized boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, or simply a lack of appealing films at theaters, the August 25-27 box-office weekend was one of the worst in more than 15 years.

The weekend was led by a mere $10 million for action-comedy The Hitman’s Bodyguard, and the top 12 movies over the three-day span are expected to earn less than $50 million collectively. The total domestic box-office earnings for the weekend aren’t expected to pass $65 million.

Those low marks give the August 25-27 weekend the worst box office since the weekend of September 21-23 in 2001, when the total box office generated just $59 million overall and the top 12 films earned just $43.5 million. That weekend was led by Keanu Reeves’ sports drama Hardball. The previous low mark was set a year earlier when the top 12 films generated $37.9 million and the total box office tally was $53.7 million for the weekend of September 15-17, 2000.

# Title Weekend U.S. Total Worldwide Total
1. The Hitman’s Bodyguard $10M $39.6M $39.6M
2. Annabelle: Creation $7.3M $77.8M $215M
3. Leap! $5M $5M $63.2M
4. Wind River $4.4M $9.8M $9.8M
5. Logan Lucky $4.3M $15M $16M
6. Dunkirk $3.9M $172.4M $412.1M
7. Spider-Man: Homecoming $2.7M $318.8M $737M
8. Mayweather vs. McGregor $2.6M $2.6M NA
9. Birth of the Dragon $2.5M $2.5M $2.5M
10. The Emoji Movie $2.3M $76.4M $144.1M

While The Weinstein Company’s animated feature Leap! (known as Ballerina outside the U.S.) took advantage of the box-office lull to post a $5 million opening weekend, the weekend’s list of highest-grossing movies was particularly noteworthy for including the aforementioned Mayweather-McGregor boxing match. The event was shown in more than 500 theaters as part of a Fathom Events promotion, and earned approximately $2.6 million — averaging $4,884 per theater. That impressive per-theater total — even in the midst of a box-office lull — suggests we could be seeing more events like this down the road.

This upcoming weekend is likely to be another slow one in theaters,with no high-profile films arriving in theaters. The biggest draw is likely to be the raunchy comedy The Layover, which features Alexandra Daddario (True Detective) and Kate Upton (The Other Woman) as a pair of friends competing for the affections of the same guy during an unplanned layover in St. Louis.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
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