Home Entertainment SA’s Weekend Top 10 Movie Chart: SUICIDE is painless… and profitable

SA’s Weekend Top 10 Movie Chart: SUICIDE is painless… and profitable

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Suicide is painless, goes the M*A*S*H theme song. It’s also pretty damn profitable, providing we’re talking about a comic book movie. After watching X-Men: Apocalypse this weekend, I’m now firmly distrusting any comic book movie review. It was pretty good – and certainly better than the second and third films from the previous generation.

Will Suicide Squad also stand up as an underrated and over-bashed experience, like Batman vs. Superman, yes, even the new Fantastic Four (which is better than any of the FF movies before it and the last two Iron Man yawnfests)?

This chart has few changes

  • 1. SUICIDE SQUAD (LW: 2)
  • 2. MECHANIC RESURRECTION (LW: 1)
  • 3. SULLY (NE)
  • 4. BAD MOMS (LW: 3)
  • 5. NINE LIVES (LW: 6)
  • 6. SAUSAGE PARTY (NE)
  • 7. STAR TREK: BEYOND (LW: 4)
  • 8. PETE’S DRAGON (LW: 7)
  • 9. WAR DOGS (LW: 5)
  • 10 DIS KOUE KOS SKAT (LW: 9)

Take or leave this analysis if you please

1. SUICIDE SQUAD
Weekend gross: R 1 million
Percentage change:  -28.2%
Total gross: R 33 million

The bad guys rule again, taking back the top spot after a brief lapse last week to second. In terms of non-consecutive time at the top, this makes Suicide Squad the best performer of the year. But it is doing so during a slump and isn’t earning as much as Star Wars or Civil War, two of the year’s biggest hitters. (Read our review)

2. MECHANIC RESURRECTION
Weekend gross: R 1 million
Percentage change: -30.2%
Total gross: R6 million

Jason Statham slides down back to second, again making only a sliver less that Suicide Squad. But the overall earnings are the big divider and here the Stath is miles behind the DC juggernaut. Still, this shows you can’t write off Statham as a good investment.

3. SULLY
Weekend gross: R 1 million
Percentage change: n/a
Total gross: R1 million

Tom Hanks finally gets directed by the steady hand of Clint Eastwood in yet another biopic. Sully is off to a good start, but won’t beat the behemoth American Sniper. Probably because it contains scenes that actually happened.

4. BAD MOMS
Weekend gross: R 870,000
Percentage change: -18.9%
Total gross: R 7.2 million

With no real competition, Bad Moms is likely to keep its momentum, but local audiences do have a habit of suddenly and violently losing interest in these raunchy comedies.

5. NINE LIVES
Weekend gross: R 588,000
Percentage change: -16.4%
Total gross: R2.4 million

Maybe it’s the total lack of credible kids entertainment (Pete’s Dragon really doesn’t seem to strike a chord with the tots), but this tale about a talking cat started slow and has since clawed its way up the charts. This past weekend it jumped two spots. Meow!

6. SAUSAGE PARTY
Weekend gross: R 512,000
Percentage change: n/a
Total gross: R512,000

sausage-party-2016-large-cover-1024x576

It’s a so-so debut for the adult animated comedy Sausage Fest, possibly because despite the mature connotation it is decisively immature. Basically, it’s food making sex jokes.

7. STAR TREK BEYOND
Weekend gross: R 489,000
Percentage change: -58.3%
Total gross: R4.6 million

I bet Simon Pegg wishes he wasn’t so closely tied to this bomb. We can debate what happened: I think the new Star Trek abandoned too much of its core values and as a result core fans are ignoring it. Then again, I also believe core fans don’t really carry big blockbusters. Maybe this just feels like a second-rate Star Wars experience – and nobody pays for second rate on cinema screens anymore. (Read our review)

8. PETE’S DRAGON
Weekend gross: R 477,000
Percentage change: -27.3%
Total gross: R 5.5 million

The lukewarm reception for this remake of a Disney classic continues. At least it’s not spiraling out of the picture, so Pete’s Dragon will depart with a little dignity. (Read our review)

9. WAR DOGS
Weekend gross: R 450,000
Percentage change: -39.8%
Total gross: R 4.5 million

Far less dignity is available for War Dogs, the war comedy that hasn’t impressed everyone. Even though critics agree Jonah Hill is the reason to see this, he doesn’t have the clout to carry a bad film. That won’t be good for his career.

10. DIS KOUE KOS, SKAT
Weekend gross: R 423,000
Percentage change: -13.1%
Total gross: R 2.1 million

This local film started on a bad foot, but three weeks in and it has held onto the chart. That’s impressive, but certainly befitting the great cast.

The game of movies is hard to play

Its low budget is mainly what saved Shallows from being a flop. But it went through the charts just long enough to write its name on the bathroom wall. Meanwhile Noem My Skollie quickly faded from view after a brief Top 10 appearance.

Last Updated: September 15, 2016

2 Comments

  1. I would’ve gone to watch Star Trek if it wasn’t only in 3D.

    Reply

    • James Francis

      September 15, 2016 at 14:33

      Yeah, a few people have complained about that.

      Reply

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