The Meg: A Big Fish in a Late Summer Puddle

Taking a huge bite out of pre-release prognostications, The Meg opened to a whopping $45 million, easily swallowing the competition, including the third weekend legs of Mission Impossible: Fallout, which washed ashore with $19 million. As always, box office success is often measured against expectations, and with a reported $130 million production budget, The Meg will need to make some waves overseas to stay afloat, but the splash of a better than expected opening makes this film a monster hit.

In other premiere news, Sony's Slender Man went largely unseen with an opening of around $11 million, and Spike Lee's latest joint, BlackkKlansman, stirred up a strong $11 million on just 1,500 screens.

PageBreaks Take: With mixed to negative reviews, and a B+CinemaScore, we could see a significant dive for The Meg in week 2. Romcom Crazy Rich Asians and shoot-em-up actioner Mile 22 both open on over 3,000 screens this week.

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