L-R: Keith L. Williams, Jacob Tremblay and Brady Noon in “Good Boys”; Ed Araquel/Universal Pictures(NEW YORK) — Good Boys, the R-rated comedy from Seth Rogen and collaborator Evan Goldberg, laughed all the way to the top of the box office with an unexpected estimated $21 million debut.
The film, starring Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon, and Keith L. Williams as sixth graders who ditch school to attend kissing parties, exceeded expectations on the way to becoming the first R-rated comedy to top the box office since 2016’s The Boss, and the biggest 2019 opening for an original comedy.
The weekend’s other new movies, on the other hand, mostly floundered. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, the sequel to the 2017 shark thriller, finished in sixth place, earning an estimated $nine million.
Likewise, Blinded by the Light, which centered on a Pakistani teen in England whose life is changed when he discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen, managed only a ninth-place finish with an estimated $4.5 million. And the comedy Where’d You Go Bernadette, starring Cate Blanchett, failed to make the top 10, only managing an estimated $3.45 million.
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw was expected to hold on to first place in its third week of release, but Good Boys bumped it into the number-two slot, where it earned an estimated 14.1 million, bringing its total stateside to $133.7 million. Overseas, the Fast & Furious spinoff added an estimated $45.7 million, bringing its worldwide tally to $437 million.
Disney’s The Lion King remained in third place for a second consecutive week, grabbing an estimated $11.9 million. It’s now surpassed Finding Dory to become the 14th highest grossing domestic release of all-time with over $496 million so far in five weeks of release. After tacking on an estimated $33.8 million overseas, The Lion King has now earned $1.435 billion globally, ranking it as the ninth-biggest worldwide release of all-time, right above Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Marvel is owned by Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
The fourth of this weekend’s debuts, The Angry Birds Movie 2, didn’t fly at the box office, finishing in fourth place despite opening last Tuesday. The animated film, featuring the voices of Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Leslie Jones and Sterling K. Brown, delivered an estimated $10 million for the weekend and $16.5 million for the entire six days. That’s a far cry from the $38.2 million the original opened with in 2016.
Scary Stories in the Dark dropped from second place to fifth in its second week of release, earning an $10 million.
Here are the top 10 movies Friday through Sunday, with estimated domestic box office earnings:
1. Good Boys, $21 million
2. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, $14.1 million
3. The Lion King, $11.9 million
4. The Angry Birds Movie 2, $10.5 million
5. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, $10 million
6. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged, $9 million
7. Dora and the Lost City of Gold, $8.5 million
8. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, $7.6 million
9. Blinded by the Light, $4.45 million
10. The Art of Racing in the Rain, $4.4 million
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