The most interesting box office news happened beneath the reigning blockbuster behemoth, but nothing could unseat Fast & Furious 8/The Fate Of The Furious from its position at the top of the charts in the States. The latest Fast film earned $19.3 million this weekend, bringing its current American total up to $192.7 million, according to studio estimates.
While that's still behind the fifth, sixth and seventh films in domestic earnings, globally the new one has soared, making $867.6 million outside the US to coast past the $1 billion mark worldwide. We'd expect it to hold on for a few days until Star-Lord and co. arrive with Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, which has already been packing them in here and elsewhere with its typical earlier release tactic.
A much bigger surprise was to be found in the next three movies as the new arrivals landed in unexpected position. Comedy actor Ken Marino's film directing debut, How To Be A Latin Lover, which surrounds Latin American superstar Eugenio Derbez with a solid comedy and supporting cast, posted a second place victory with $12 million. It's a big win for a film in competition with a title that boasts both Emma Watson and Tom Hanks, but more on that one in a moment. Third was Bollywood release Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, itself scoring a big win despite a low key advertising campaign in the States. A massive franchise hit in India, it made $10.1 million in the US.
The two surprises came at the expense of tech thriller The Circle (the aforementioned Watson/Hanks film). With some seriously mixed reviews, it stumbled into fourth place on $9.3 million, despite opening on 3,163 screens compared to Baahubali 2's 425 and Latin Lover's 1,118. The Boss Baby made up the top five with $9 million after five weeks on release.
Beauty And The Beast fell from third to sixth with $6.4 million, while Going In Style was down to seventh on $3.5 million. Smurfs: The Lost Village dropped a few places to eighth, earning $3.31 million and Gifted slipped one place to ninth with $3.3 million. Finally we have stalker thriller Unforgettable, which was pushed to 10th with $2.3 million.