No one is going to be too surprised when they see the results of this weekend's box office results. Christopher Nolan had years to wind up to his Dunkirk project as Luc Besson also spent years developing his dream project, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Both movies fall at opposing ends of the creative spectrum. One is a tale set in reality. The other is a massive visual feast that takes place in outer space. Unfortunately, people's minds were predisposed to not seeing Valerian as they also were set on making Dunkirk a huge success. Did Besson's genre masterpiece deserve the spanking it go this weekend? Absolutely not. The film is absolutely breathtaking and should have been the next big science fiction franchise.
Now, onto the numbers for the weekend. Nolan's Dunkirk premiered everywhere with tons of IMAX screenings and 70mm prints to the tune of $50.5 million which is almost right on par with predictions. It took the number one spot this weekend. And poor Valerian wasn't even given a chance to swim with the big boys. His opening was even worse than imagined. Initially thought to crack the $20 million marker, the epic only tallied $17 million against an independently raised $210 million. Chances of a sequel are nil.
In the second spot was Girls Trip with over $30 million. Spider-Man ranked up over the Apes this weekend in the third spot with $22 million, meaning that War only brought in $20 million in its second weekend. Seems that the battle between man and ape isn't holding up as well as it once did.