Weekend Box Office: The Rhythm Section just can't find the beat

By Shannon Miller  |  February 3, 2020 | 5:47pm
Aux Features Film
Weekend Box Office: The Rhythm Section just can't find the beat
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The Kansas City Chiefs, J. Lo, Shakira, and the newest monstrosity that is Baby Nut may have been the major stars of this Super Bowl weekend, but there was still some noteworthy movement in the box office. Mind you, none of the weekend’s premiering films managed to nab even the first three spots, but one did end Jumanji: The Next Level’s menacing top five residency—a small victory that we’re sure the thrilling Gretel & Hansel is celebrating with gusto. Holding onto the number one slot is Bad Boys For Life, which has not only exceeded box office expectations, but is now the highest grossing installment of the franchise. Despite a 48% decline, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence managed to wrangle in another $17.7 million domestically, bringing the stateside total to $148 million. War epic 1917 ($9.7 million) and family comedy Dolittle ($7.7 million) maintained their second and third-place spots, respectively, with the former adding an additional 50 theaters just before the Oscars.

Even at fourth place, Gretel & Hansel still had one of the better opening weekends with a modest haul of $6 million. There isn’t a lot of distance between the thriller, fifth-place The Gentlemen, and the Jumanji sequel, all of which made roughly the same amount, give or take a decimal. Blake Lively’s Bond-esque action-thriller The Rhythm Section failed to drum up any excitement: Across 3,049 theaters, the film only garnered $2.8 million and an abysmal tenth-place slot. That a $918 per-theater average, which stings no matter which questionable wig you try stick on it. Here’s what Ignatiy Vishnevetsky had to say about it in his review:

The Rhythm Section, a thriller about revenge and geopolitics, wastes no time establishing a tone of po-faced cheese. Armed with a silenced pistol, Stephanie Patrick (Blake Lively) creeps up a stairway in Morocco, past a parrot, and up behind an old man in a wheelchair. She appears to be some kind of stylish assassin, with short, choppy dark hair. But before she can pull the trigger, the screenplay interrupts. It is eight months earlier. Stephanie is a stringy blonde with dark bags under her eyes, an addict plying the world’s oldest profession at below-wholesale prices in London. At this point, we are presumably supposed to be thinking, “Wow, how did she get from here to there?”

If we had to guess (and we kind of do!), we’d wager that this weekend’s box office will ultimately belong to a certain pig-tailed former psychologist with an ax to grind (or a sledgehammer to swing). Birds Of Prey has a pretty clear runway to snatch the top spot, and we can’t imagine that Bulletproof Mike Lowrey would be foolish enough to stand in their way.

For a more detailed analysis of this weekend’s box office, check out Box Office Mojo.

 
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