Glen Wilson/Sony Pictures(NEW YORK) — In a weekend that marked the first time in history that eight of the top 10 films were sequels and just the second time they made up the entire top five, The Equalizer 2 topped the weekend box office, just edging out Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which was favored to debut at number one.
The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington and directed by Antoine Fuqua, delivered an estimated $35.8 million, opening slightly better than its predecessor, 2014’s The Equalizer, which grabbed $34.1 million.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, was right on EQ2‘s tail though, finishing in second place with an estimated $34.38 million. The current $1.44 million difference between the two films could shrink when the final number come in Monday.
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, which reunites the original cast — Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård and Dominic Cooper — outperformed the original’s debut by nearly $7 million. It also posted the fourth-largest opening ever for a musical.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation finished in third place, earning an estimated $23.3 million, followed by Ant-Man and The Wasp in fourth with an estimated $16.1 million. The latter’s earnings stateside now stand just under $165 million with an additional $21.6 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $335 million.
Rounding out the top five is Disney Pixar’s Incredibles 2 with an estimated $11.5 million. It added an additional $21.6 million overseas — including the second-largest Disney Animation/Pixar opening ever in Hong Kong at $3.3 million — for a worldwide total of $335 million. Disney is the parent company of Disney, Pixar and ABC News.
The only other debut to place in the top ten is Unfriended: Dark Web, which took ninth with $3.49 million.
Here are the top 10 movies from Friday through Sunday, with estimated box office sales:
1. The Equalizer 2, $35.8 million
2. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, $34.38 million
3. Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, $23.3 million
4. Ant-Man and The Wasp, $16.1 million
5. Incredibles 2, $11.5 million
6. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, $11 million
7. Skyscraper, $10.96 million
8. The First Purge, $4.98 million
9. Unfriended: Dark Web, $3.49 million
10. Sorry to Bother You, $2.8 million
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