‘Sinners’ Dominates Again as ‘The Accountant 2’ and ‘Star Wars’ Battle for Second Place at a Shaken Box Office
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan’s “Sinners” continues its unstoppable run at the box office, pulling in another $13 million on Friday alone — and showing barely any drop from its opening weekend. Against all odds and industry expectations, the vampire thriller is holding so strong it might soon reach the kind of rarefied air not seen since “Avatar’s” legendary second weekend back in 2009.
Even with heavyweight newcomers like Ben Affleck’s “The Accountant 2” and Disney’s re-release of “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” nothing could knock “Sinners” out of its dominant stride. The film, now expanding to even more theaters, is projected to cross the $100 million domestic mark by Saturday — less than nine days after release — and is poised to smash past $200 million if these stunning holds continue. The thirst for original blockbuster stories clearly hasn’t died; it’s been starved.
Meanwhile, “The Accountant 2” carved out $9.4 million across Friday and previews, setting itself up for a $25 million opening weekend. It’s a hair stronger than the 2016 original, but Amazon MGM, which doubled the budget for the sequel to $80 million, might have been quietly hoping for more. With a strong “A-” CinemaScore and solid audience reactions, “Accountant 2” may have legs in the weeks ahead — but it’ll need them. In today’s market, anything underperforming even slightly in theaters leans heavily on future streaming success, and Amazon’s focus remains on making sure its Prime Video platform reaps those rewards.
“Star Wars” fans also turned out in force, lifting the re-release of “Revenge of the Sith” to $11.3 million on Friday and preview screenings. The cult-favorite prequel could even overtake “The Accountant 2” by the time final weekend tallies roll in. Disney’s strategy of nostalgia-fueled reissues continues to pay off handsomely, with “Sith” easily doubling the re-release grosses of other entries like “The Phantom Menace.”
Elsewhere, the PlayStation horror adaptation “Until Dawn” debuted soft, pulling $3.2 million on Friday and headed for a lukewarm $7 million weekend. With middling reviews and a tough “C+” CinemaScore, it’s unlikely to stick around long. Meanwhile, “A Minecraft Movie” keeps raking it in, ready to leap past “Jurassic World Dominion” on the all-time domestic chart with over $377 million through Sunday.
For those watching closely, the real story isn’t just who wins this weekend — it’s that audiences are proving once again: deliver something fresh, something thrilling, and they’ll show up in force, IP or not.