South Africa’s box office: Cars 3 buries The Mummy

Lightning McQueen had one last chance — one last dream — and South Africa refused to let him do it alone. If there’s one thing we understand, it’s loyalty — and not allowing Tom Cruise to thrive.

This weekend saw Cars 3 debut at number one, pushing The Mummy down to third place after just one week at the top. I guess the rebooted franchise… ran out of fuel? Got a flat tire? Look, I don’t know a thing about cars, but I do know about movies — and here’s how the others fared in the top ten this weekend. (16 to 18 June)

Wonder Woman clung to second place like the future of women in film depended on it, and we’re all still very proud of her. The film is officially the highest grossing film about World War I, and seventh in the ‘action heroine‘ genre — behind Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games, Jyn Erso of Rogue One, and Rey (Skywalker?) of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The female-driven comedy Rough Night had a rough weekend, premiering in fifth place. The film, produced on a budget of US$20-million, only managed to eke US$12-million out of audiences around the globe on its opening weekend.

This weekend saw Cars 3 debut at number one, pushing The Mummy down to third place after just one week at the top

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge both took the blockbuster tumble this week, down two spots to eighth and sixth respectively. But with Fate of the Furious finally off the charts, Guardians was able to sneak in as the highest life-to-date grosser pulling in just under R20-million with six weeks on the chart. To put that into perspective: F8 exited with over R72-million in sales.

Animated Ozzy also saw itself falling two after its heroic climb up one spot last weekend. Its struggle has been brave, but it’s time to hand over the kids movie torch to Cars 3. Lightning McQueen is no stranger to success.

Finally, neither Free Fire nor This Beautiful Fantastic were able to crack their way into SA’s charts this weekend — a pity for the former as it stars South African Sharlto Copley alongside Brie Larson, Cillian Murphy and Armie Hammer.

Here are ten most-watched movies in SA this past weekend:

1. Cars 3 (Incl. 3D)
2. Wonder Woman (Incl. 3D & Imax)
3. The Mummy (Incl. Imax)
4. Baywatch
5. Rough Night
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Salazar’s Revenge (Incl. 3D, IMAX & 4DX)
7. Ozzy
8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (Incl. 3D, Imax & 4DX)
9. The Hunter’s Prayer
10. Gifted

The above list was provided by Ster Kinekor Entertainment.