It's an American tradition as old as the nation itself: Take something British and make it as obnoxious as possible.
Taking the No. 1 spot this week and finally dethroning that child-eating clown is "Kingsman: The Golden Circle," bringing in an estimated $39 million. The sequel lagged behind box-office expectations but did manage to beat the original "Kingsman" debut by about $3 million.
Also falling in line with the original, "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" had a solid foreign box-office debut, bringing in about $61 million overseas.
Unfortunately, though, critical reception hasn't been quite as kind to the franchise’s sophomore effort.
Alonso Duralde of What the Flick?! called "Kingsman: The Golden Circle" "really dull" and said the film is "too long."
The consensus from critics is a lot of, "If you like the first one, you'll like this one too." But unfortunately for the sequel, the novelty of "Kingsman" is gone now, and so with it — the ripe red tomato.
But enough about spies. Let's talk about clowns. After two weeks at No. 1, "It" has finally dropped a spot, bringing in an estimated $30 million in its third week out. While this was essentially a foregone conclusion after the huge debut, "It" is now officially the highest-grossing R-rated horror film of all time both domestically and worldwide.
The $478 million worldwide puts Pennywise ahead of 1973's "The Exorcist," which brought in $441 million worldwide. But if you adjust for inflation, "The Exorcist" is still a much more profitable movie — $441 million went a lot further in 1973 than it does now.
Taking a disappointing third place bow this week is "The Lego Ninjago Movie," bringing in an estimated $21 million — a far cry from its two predecessors.
The original "Lego Movie" was an all-star kids flick, bringing in an estimated $69 million in its debut and carrying a 96 percent on the Tomatometer. The follow-up "Lego Batman Movie" was similarly praised and brought in about $53 million in its opening.
The Ninjago film was fairly "meh" all the way around. But for what it's worth, "The Lego Movie Sequel" hits theaters in 2018, and I think if we all try really hard, we can pretend this never even happened.
As for next week, med students take "bad decision-making" to new heights.
