Night School led the box office in its first week, pulling in $28 million from about 3,000 screens. Close behind, also in its first week, Smallfoot earned $23 million on 4,100 screens. The Jack Black-led The House With a Clock in Its Walls came in third with $12.5 million in its second week, bringing it to $44.7 million earned domestically. Fourth this week was A Simple Favor, starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, with $6.4 million in its third week and fifth was The Nun, earning $5.4 million. With $109 million domestically, The Nun is now the highest grossing film in the ‘Conjuring’ franchise.
Night School and Smallfoot both performed up to insider expectations and helped drive home the second-best September in North America. Only September 2017 had better numbers, due in major part to the It revival launched last year.
The popularity of Night School continues to show the draw of both Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish as this marks the biggest release of the year by a broad comedy. Haddish worked with director Malcolm D. Lee previously on Girl’s Trip. However, while Girl’s Trip was both a commercial and critical success, $115 million domestically and a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, Night School is currently sitting at a lowly 31% on RT.
The runner-up of the weekend, Smallfoot is the most recent in a line of animated ensemble outings that has struck a chord with younger audiences over the last few weeks. The cast features the voices of Channing Tatum, James Corden, Common, Lebron James, and Zendaya. James and the Giant Peach director Karey Kirkpatrick co-wrote and directed the feature, he also worked on Charlotte’s Web and Over the Hedge.
