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‘The Predator’ makes easy prey of ‘The Nun’ to win the weekend box office

It took a demonic nun to end the reign of Crazy Rich Asians at the box office, but it’s a trophy-hunting alien that’s the weekend’s new movie champion. Shane Black’s sci-fi action sequel The Predator won the weekend box office with a modest $24 million premiere, knocking last weekend’s top movie, The Nun, down to second place. It wasn’t a flawless victory for  The Predator , though, which received negative reviews from the majority of professional critics and just as bad of an appraisal from ticket-buying audiences, which gave the film a C+ grade .

The opening weekend for The Predator didn’t exactly put it in a good place franchise-wise, either. The film’s premiere was the third best in the six-film franchise — which includes the two Alien vs. Predator crossover films — and the second best among the four solo Predator movies so far. Given that it was also the most expensive movie in the franchise so far, box-office profits might not be easy prey for the series’ alien hunter this time around.

#             Title        Weekend             U.S. Total            Worldwide Total

  1. The Predator $24M     $24M     $54.7M
  2. The Nun $18.2M                $85M     $228.6M
  3. A Simple Favor $16M     $16M     $19.5M
  4. White Boy Rick $8.8M   $8.8M   $8.8M
  5. Crazy Rich Asians $8.7M   $149.5M              $187.4M
  6. Peppermint $6M       $24.2M                $25.6M
  7. The Meg $3.8M   $137M $505.2M
  8. Searching $3.2M   $19.6M                $45.8M
  9. Unbroken: Path to Redemption $2.3M   $2.3M   $2.3M
  10. Mission: Impossible – Fallout       $2.3M   $216.1M              $760.9M

The Predator wasn’t the only new release to crack the top 10n films, with three other films also debuting among the highest-grossing movies of the weekend. Paul Feig’s female-led thriller A Simple Favor — which stars Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick — paired positive reviews from critics and audiences with a $16 million premiere that was good for third place. Meanwhile, ’80s drug drama White Boy Rick began generating some Oscar buzz for supporting actor Matthew McConaughey during its $8.8 million premiere, which helped it lock down fourth place.

Further down the list, faith-based drama Unbroken: Path to Redemption managed a ninth-place debut with its “spiritual sequel” to Angelina Jolie’s 2014 film Unbroken. The post-summer movie lull is fully upon us at this point, with many of the biggest films held until November and December in order to take advantage of the end-of-year holidays and keep them fresh on the minds of awards voters. The most noteworthy films hitting theaters this upcoming week include kid-friendly scary movie The House With a Clock in its Walls and the biopic of legendary music producer Quincy Jones, called Quincy. Yahoo

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