Last Weekend In August Pulls Less Than $10M In Box Office From Wide Releases

There were only two films released on a wide scale during the last week of August, Jessica M. Thompson’s The Invitation and George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing, amassing $9.7 million at the box office. Now, the weekend is being considered one of the worst box office weekends in 2022.

Nabbing the No. 1 spot, The Invitation, a story about a young woman who discovers long lost relatives with an appetite for blood, opened in 3,114 theaters in the U.S. and also had openings in Lithuania, Romania, and Vietnam. Domestic box office attained 82.1% of the grosses at $6.8 million, while international landed at $1.6 million.

While the romantic vampire thriller, starring Nathalie Emmanuel and Thomas Doherty, had competitive advantage with its wide distribution, word of mouth tainted expectations for the film. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes gave the PG-13 pic a moderate 54% rating, while critics completely panned the movie at a measly 22%.

The other wide release, Three Thousand Years of Longing, had the unfortunate task of coercing Idris Elba fans to choose between the mysterious fantasy and his action-packed, wildlife feature, Beast, released a week prior. Three Thousand Years of Longing follows traveling scholar Alithea (Tilda Swinton) as she encounters a Djinn (Elba) who grants three wishes in exchange for his freedom. The film is based on the short story, The Djinn in the Nightingale’s Eye, written by A.S. Byatt.

The feature film was limited to a domestic release, drawing in $2.9 million over the weekend from 2,436 theaters. Ratings were a little more optimistic with moviegoers and critics giving the pic a 71% and 72% rating, respectively.

The top 10 films in theaters during the weekend of Aug. 26 drew in a total box office of $41,405,400. Some massive hits are still circulating in theaters, snatching a good amount of the box office percentage at 76.5%, or $31,680,215. Moviegoers can still see Paramount’s nearly billion dollar darling, Top Gun: Maverick, Sony’s action flick Bullet Train, or Universal Pictures’ Beast — all films led by A-list leading men, such as Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Idris Elba.

There’s also plenty to pick from in the animation and super hero themed sector with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, DC League of Super-Pets, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Minions: The Rise of Gru rounding out the top 10.