Weekend Box Office: a big ol’ payday for Jason Statham’s big ol’ shark

In our review of The Meg, we guessed Warner Bros. “wagered on more than enough international box office revenue to justify paying for the pricey, painfully-anodyne” $130 million film. And with the movie’s domestic and worldwide numbers arriving from its release over the weekend, it would seem their wager paid off. Opening at number one, in the US The Meg blew out expectations with $44.5 million. Add to that the estimated $97 million it’s brought in from foreign markets and, marketing costs aside, this thing has already paid for itself. Truly, Jason Statham fighting an enormous prehistoric shark crosses borders by speaking the international language of stupidity.

The giant fish’s success meant Mission: Impossible – Fallout fell to second with $20 million, and Christopher Robin was bumped to third with $12.4 million. New releases Slender Man and BlacKkKlansman were left to round out the top five with a respective $11.3 and $10.8 million. Released last Wednesday, Dog Days is still sitting below $3.7 million total, and came in 12th for the weekend.

This weekend: Mile 22 goes up against Crazy Rich Asians, while Alpha will almost certainly bomb, right? We’ll report back next Monday.

Please help these sad nobodies and: