The third installment in Denzel Washington’s Equalizer series won the box office for the first three days of the holiday weekend.
via: Hollywood Reporter
The movie’s franchise-best opening provided the final boost needed to push domestic summer revenue past $4 billion for the first time in the post-pandemic era in a much-needed win for Hollywood studios and theater owners. Equalizer 3‘s estimated $42.3 million four-day opening also makes it the second-biggest Labor Day launch by far behind Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($94.7 million). The holiday isn’t usually home to big tentpoles, but 2021’s Shang-Chi was an exception as the box office struggled to come out of the pandemic.
Heading into the weekend, Equalizer 3 was tracking to take in $30 million for the four days but strong word-of-mouth kicked in as audiences bestowed the threequel with a glowing A CinemaScore. The film benefits from playing to an ethnically diverse audience. Caucasians made up 33 percent of Friday ticket buyers, followed by Blacks (31 percent), Latinos (20 percent) and Asians/Other (15 percent), according to PostTrak.
The first Equalizer opened to $34.1 million, followed by $36 million for the sequel, not adjusted for inflation. The performance of Equalizer 3 is particularly noteworthy considering Washington couldn’t fully promote the film because of the actors strike.
Overseas, the movie opened to a stellar $26.1 million from its first raft of markets for a global start of at least $68.4 million through Monday.
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