South Africa’s Box Office: Despicable Me 3 climbs over Spider-Man to first

In the summer of blockbusters, you win or you die. And Spider-Man: Homecoming did not win. It was the move that shocked the nation: after allowing the Marvel film a week of glory, Despicable Me 3 rose from second to take back its rightful seat on the throne.

Not only did the animation topple its biggest competition, but it also pulled in R10-million in its third weekend, furthering its lead as highest life-to-date grosser with just over R30.5-million in total sales. The move was likely aided by school holidays, but to say Spider-Man wouldn’t benefit from that would be a lie — so we offer nothing but respect to our minion overlords.

But how else did other films fare this historic weekend? (14 – 16 July)

Unfortunately for War for the Planet of the Apes, its war wasn’t nearly as enticing as the one between our top two. The third installment in the franchise only debuted in third spot despite its hefty US$150-million budget — but it has brought in nearly US$70-million in the US since opening 10 July.

War’s debut meant a bump down one spot for Transformers: The Last Knight, Baywatch and Cars 3 who moved to fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

The Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell comedy The House held onto seventh spot ahead of newcomer The Circle which, despite sporting a stellar cast of Emma Watson, Tom Hanks and John Boyega, only debuted in eighth. The “techno-thriller” has been doing poorly with critics — Rotten Tomatoes only rates it 15% — but it has at least made back its budget of US$18-million.

The biggest drop this week was by critic darling Wonder Woman. Down three to ninth, the superhero film might want to begin its heartfelt goodbyes to the other names on the chart.

Wonder Woman will be leaving the charts in high spirits, though, having made quite the name for itself at the box office. Not only was it the first female-directed film to bring in US$100-million in its opening weekend, but it is also the third highest grossing DC film and the highest grossing film of the summer in the US.

Finally, also on its last leg is The Mummy down two to tenth spot after just five weeks on the chart. The first film of the Dark Universe did exceptionally well in China, where it made over US$90-million.

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

1. Despicable Me 3 (Incl. 3D)
2. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Incl. 3D, 4DX & IMAX)
3. War for the Planet of the Apes (Incl. 3D)
4. Transformers: The Last Knight
5. Baywatch
6. Cars 3 (Incl. 3D)
7. The House
8. The Circle
9. Wonder Woman (Incl. 3D & Imax)
10. The Mummy (Incl. Imax)

The above list was provided by Ster Kinekor Entertainment.