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Home Again, the Open Road Films Reese Witherspoon rom-com landed softly in fifth this weekend, earning a small $3.3 million, but dropping a decent 36%. Made for $12 million, Home Again has now earned $22.3 million domestically about $ 2 million overseas.

Mother!, the Jennifer Lawrence/Darren Aronofsky horror misfire, fell steadily this weekend, with the second frame’s ugliness matching the first. After opening to an awful $7.5 million, the follow-up frame came in at only $3.3 million, giving it a 57% drop against a small opening figure. The $30 million Paramount release has a domestic total of $13.4 million, and it has picked up $12.5 million overseas. I would imagine the stateside marketing budget was at least $30 million.

Friend Request is the latest from Entertainment Studios, which released 47 Meters Down in June, a film that earned $45 million domestically against a $5.5 million budget. The studio did not have the same kind of luck the second time around. Friend Request earned an awful $2.4 million from a quite wide venue count of 2,573 theaters, making it the 21st worst opener ever for films released on more than 2,500 screens. It was made for $10 million, so its makers will take a tidy hit on this one.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is eighth after six weekends of release, as stars Sam Jackson and Ryan Reynolds have kept Bodyguard going, to the point of finding a profit. This weekend it earns a paltry $1.9 million and drops 58%, but brings the domestic gross up to $73.6 million, against a $30 million budget. Overseas, it has a similar $71 million to date, so Lionsgate has another for the win column.

Stronger, the new Jake Gyllenhaal flick, opened in nationwide release this weekend at 574 theaters. The result was only okay, with Stronger earning $1.7 million and a venue average of $3,045. With a cost of $30 million, Stronger is already in a bit of trouble. Still, reviews are fantastic at 95% fresh, so word-of-mouth could still pick up should Lionsgate go wide next weekend.

The last film worth mentioning is Brad’s Status, the new comedy from Ben Stiller and writer/director Mike White (The Good Girl, School of Rock). Brad’s Status opened in four venues last weekend and had an average of $22,000. This weekend, it expanded to 453 theaters, earning $1 million and a $2,210 venue average. It is certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes, but is coming off more like a Ben Stiller in Greenberg (A $4.2 million earner in 2010) than one of his wider releases.

Overall, the box office continues to shine in September, with three films earning more than $21 million this weekend. Usually, September is a quagmire of August cast-offs and films that are not big enough to open in December or May. This year is the opposite, with good scores all around. The top 12 films this weekend took in $112.4 million, while last year, The Magnificent Seven was on top with a quiet $34.7 million, and Storks opening in second with $21.3 million, bringing the top 12 to $94.9 million.

Next weekend brings four new releases that should varying degrees of success with. American Made has to be the show pony in the group, what with Tom Cruise in the lead of a crime thriller directed by Doug Liman. The pressure is even off Cruise a bit stateside, as overseas venues have already taken in $58 million. Screen Gems dusts off Flatliners, this time with Diego Luna and Ellen Page. We also get a religious flick with A Question of Faith, and a new distributor called Novus releases a Taye Diggs thriller called Til Death Do Us Part. Can the September hot streak continue?

Top Ten for Weekend of September 22-24, 2017
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross (millions)	Weekly Change	Running Total (millions)
1	Kingsman: The Golden Circle	20th Century Fox	39.0	New	39.0
2	It	Warner Bros.	30.0	-50%	266.3
3	The LEGO Ninjago Movie	Warner Bros.	21.2	New	21.2
4	American Assassin	Lionsgate	6.3	-58%	26.2
5	Home Again	Open Road	3.3	-36%	22.3
6	Mother!	Paramount	3.3	-57%	13.4
7	Friend Request	Entertainment Studios	2.4	New	2.4
8	The Hitman's Bodyguard	Lionsgate	1.9	-49%	73.6
9	Stronger	Roadside Attractions	1.7	New	1.7
10	Wind River	The Weinstein Co.	1.3	-51%	31.7
11	Spider-Man: Homecoming	Sony	1.1	-41%	331.9
12	Brad's Status	Annapurna	1.0	+1,013%	1.1

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