‘Downton Abbey’ overpowers Brad Pitt, Rambo at box office
A royal visit from the King and Queen of England will unleash scandal, romance and intrigue that will leave the
future of Downton hanging in the balance. www.rottentomatoes.com
Caribbean Life, Sept. 27 - Oct.3, 2019 47
By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Raise your tea
cups! The big-screen encore of ``Downton
Abbey’’ handily (but very politely)
thumped both Brad Pitt’s “Ad Astra”
and Sylvester Stallone’s “Rambo: Last
Blood” in theaters over the weekend
in one of the more unlikely box-office
upsets.
“Downton Abbey” debuted with $31
million in ticket sales, according to studio
estimates Sunday, royally trumping
the $19.2 million-opening for “Ad Astra”
and the $19 million debut for “Rambo:
Last Blood.” Neither the draw of Pitt in
space nor a bandanna-wearing Stallone
could match the appeal a tea party with
old friends.
While the stout performance of
“Downton Abbey” had come to be
expected in the lead-up to release, it
was still striking. The debut marked the
best first weekend ever for Focus Features
in its 17-year history. It ranks as
the best opening for any specialty studio
in a decade.
“We always knew that there was a
tremendous amount of love for ‘Downton
Abbey,’” said Lisa Bunnell, Focus’
distribution chief. “But as we started on
working with promotions and special
events for the movie, we realized that
the love for `Downton Abbey’ goes way
beyond what we even thought it was
going to be.”
Coming four years since the series
finale, “Downton Abbey’’ returns most
of the original cast and was penned by
its creator, Julian Fellowes. To drum up
excitement, Focus hosted dress-ups and
“Downton” parties. While the film drew
a healthy amount of younger moviegoers
(31% under 35), its audience was
predictably largely female (74 percent)
and older (32 percent over 55) — a
seldom-catered-to demographic.
Critics greeted the film warmly (85
percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) but
audiences were even more enthusiastic,
giving it an A CinemaScore. Having
already played for a week in some international
territories, “Downton Abby”
has already brought in $61.8 million
worldwide.
Reviews were similarly strong for
James Grey’s “Ad Astra,” which premiered
earlier in the month at the Venice
Film Festival. It sits at 83 % fresh
on Rotten Tomatoes and comes on the
heels of plaudits for Pitt in Quentin
Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time ... In
Hollywood” (which has grossed $344.6
million worldwide thus far).
But the film, in which Pitt plays
an astronaut journeying through the
solar system to reach his space-explorer
father (Tommy Lee Jones), was a pricey
one — especially for an artfully made
drama predicated more on father-son
psychology than sci-fi spectacle. The
production cost around $100 million for
20th Century Fox, which was earlier this
year acquired by the Walt Disney Co.
Disney postponed the release of “Ad
Astra” from May to September. The
result for “Ad Astra” follows disappointing
returns for a handful of Fox films
released under Disney, including “Dark
Phoenix’’ and “Stuber.” “Ad Astra,”
which added $26 million overseas, will
hope good reviews give the film some
legs in the weeks ahead.
“It’s been a very rough go for many
of the Fox releases,” said Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst for data
firm Comscore. “I think this is a solid
debut. It’s certainly an expensive movie.
Anytime you swing for the fences with
an outer space film, you have to spend
quite a bit of money.”
Lionsgate’s “Rambo: Last Blood” is
the fifth “Rambo’’ movie going back to
the 1982 original, “First Blood.” Fashioned
as the franchise’s final installment
(Stallone is now 73 years old), it
did about the same as the previous 2008
reboot, which opened with $18 million
before ultimately grossing $113 million
worldwide. “Last Blood” got especially
terrible reviews, though; it’s only 31 percent
fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
That trio of new releases outperformed
a pair of strong holdovers. After
two weeks at the No. 1 spot, Warner
Bros.’ “It Chapter Two” slid to fourth
with $17.2 million. The STX’s stripper
tale “Hustlers,” starring Jennifer
Lopez, earned $17 million in its second
weekend.
Those very divergent options in theaters
added up to a lot of choice for moviegoers.
The weekend was up 30 percent
from the same frame last year, according
to Comscore.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday
through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian
theaters, according to Comscore. Where
available, the latest international numbers
for Friday through Sunday are also
included.
1. “Downton Abbey,” $31 million ($10
million international).
2. “Ad Astra,” $19.2 million ($26 million
international).
3. “Rambo: Last Blood,” $19 million
($9.1 million international).
4. “It Chapter Two,” $17.2 million
($21.3 million international).
5. “Hustlers,” $17 million ($3 million
international).
6. “The Lion King,” $2.6 million.
7. “Good Boys,” $2.5 million.
8. “Angel Has Fallen,” $2.4 million.
9. “Overcomer,” $1.5 million.
10. “Hobbs & Shaw,” $1.5 million.
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