Box Office: ‘It: Chapter Two’ Remains #1, ‘Hustlers’ Has Strong $33M Debut

Horror flick It: Chapter Two remains at on top, the Jennifer Lopez crime drama, Hustlers, opened larger than expected this weekend, while mystery film The Goldfinch bombed in its debut.

Despite how well the Lopez film did, Stephen King still reigned with It: Chapter Two scaring up another $40.7 million weekend for its second weekend in the top slot. Thus far, It2 has earned more than $153 million in domestic ticket sales.

But a close second was STX film’s debut of Hustlers with a surprise $33.2 million opening, a number that beat the studio expectations and quickly earned back its $20 million production costs in just this first weekend, Variety reported.

The film was a big hit with women, who represented over 67 percent of its audience.

In third place, Lionsgate’s Angel Has Fallen continued to do strong business bringing in another $4.4 million in its fourth weekend at theaters. The Gerard Butler actioner has now earned around $60 and is setting a pace ahead of the second film in the series.

Universal’s hit coming of age comedy, Good Boys, is still sticking in the top five, coming in at fourth place for this second weekend of September. The surprise hit of the summer earned another $4.26 million bringing its total cume to more than $76 million. Unlike most other summer fare, this one has yet to open overseas.

Bringing up the tail end of the top five is Disney juggernaut, The Lion King, which is still hanging in there, and adding another $3.5 million to its huge bankroll of $1.6 billion worldwide, according to BoxOfficeMojo.

But the biggest crash of the weekend belongs to Warner Bros.’ The Goldfinch, which bombed for its debut weekend earning a mere $2.6 million. This was a huge disappointment for studios that estimated a $12 million opening weekend. It also looks as if the mystery drama will never earn back its $40 price tag.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.