John Krasinski's “IF” befriends this weekend's box office with $35M debut
The Amy Winehouse biopic 'Back to Black' faded into the background with less than $3M.
John Krasinski netted his third consecutive No. 1 debut at the box office as a director with IF, a more family-friendly outing than his two previous hits, A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II.
As per Comscore, IF made $35 million in its opening weekend, domestically, with an additional $24 million internationally, for a global debut of $59 million.
When 12-year-old Bea (Cailey Fleming) discovers that she can see everyone's imaginary friends, she embarks on a magical adventure to reconnect forgotten IFs with their kids. Co-starring Ryan Reynolds, Krasinski, and Fiona Shaw, IF also boasts an all-star voice cast including the late, great Louis Gossett Jr., Steve Carrell, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and many, many more.
For Krasinski, a reunion with his The Office co-star, who plays the imaginary friend Blue, was predictably fun but also turned out to be emotional from the very first day.
"[Carrell] said, 'I knew you'd go on to be a writer-director,'" Krasinski said recently. "I said, 'I didn't even know that.’ He just said, 'I'm so proud of you and keep going, and I've watched everything and [I'm] cheering you on from the sidelines.' So I wept at the beginning of our VO session, and then luckily he jumped into being Blue and cheered me up. It was great."
Related: Rainn Wilson reunites with ‘big-hearted brother’ and The Office costar John Krasinski
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Coming in second this week, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes fell off 55 percent from its debut with $26 million, bringing its domestic cume to $101.2 million. Internationally, however, the simian sequel retained its top position with $40.6 million, for a global cume of $237.5 million.
The first installment in the home-invading horror saga The Strangers Trilogy, The Strangers: Chapter 1, premiered with $12 million. Inspired by the 2008 film The Strangers, Chapter 1 stars Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) as a young woman named Maya starting a new life with her fiancé Ryan, played by Froy Gutierrez (Teen Wolf, Cruel Summer). During a road trip stop at a remote vacation rental in the woods, they become the prey of a mysterious gang of masked strangers who attack without warning or reason.
The Fall Guy, starring Ryan Gosling as a retired stunt man pulled back into the Hollywood machine, grossed $8.5 million in its third week of release for a domestic cume of $63 million ($127.6 globally). And rounding out the top five at this weekend's box office, the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black opened to the rather flat tune of $2.9 million.
Starring Industry's Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse, the film offers a glimpse into he tragic singer's rise to fame and the recording of her seminal album, 2007's Back to Black, for which she received five Grammys. With mixed reviews and an even more tepid commercial reception, this Back to Black probably won't be receiving any accolades anytime soon.
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