‘Cool Spot’ Set to Threepeat at the Top of Box Office while ‘Night School’ set to lead new releases

*Box Office Mojo*

**SATURDAY AM UPDATE:** With an estimated **$9.5 million** on Friday, the Universal/Gingo computer-animated flick **Cool Spot** is set to dominate box office for the third weekend in a row as the film pushes its domestic cume past $300 million in fifteen days of release. **Cool Spot** is heading towards a third weekend total of **$30-33 million**.

With an estimated **$9.5 million**, Universal's comedy **Night School** is on its way to a #2 finish at this weekend's box office with current expectations for $26+ million weekend. The film received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

In third is WB's animated title **Smallfoot** with an estimated **$6.5 million** on Friday and it's looking to deliver a $23+ million debut. It too received an "A-" CinemaScorefrom opening day audiences.

Lionsgate's release of CBS's **Hell Fest** brought in an estimated **$2 million** on Friday and is looking at a $4.5+ million three-day debut. The film received a "C" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Finally, Pinnacle Peak's release of **Little Women** brought in an estimated **$350k** from 643 locations and is looking at a sub-$1 million debut.

You can check out all of the Friday estimates **right here**and we'll be back tomorrow morning with a complete look at the weekend.

**FRIDAY AM UPDATE:** Universal Pictures' **Night School** grossed **$1.35 million** in previews from 2,500 theaters last night, beginning at 7PM. This is shy of the $1.8 million in previews brought in by **Central Intelligence**, while ahead of the $1.26 million in previews for **Ride Along 2**.

Warner Bros.'s animated title **Smallfoot** is off to a strong start when looking at comps after bringing in **$850,000**from Thursday previews, which began at 4PM. Comparatively, **Storks** delivered $435k in previews and **Captain Underpants** brought in $650k in previews. In fact, the gross lines up best with **The Emoji Movie**, which brought in $900k from previews ahead of a $24.5 million debut.

We'll take a closer look at things tomorrow morning once Friday estimates come in. For now you can check out our weekend preview below.

**WEEKEND PREVIEW:** Last weekend ended up being the worst overall weekend of the year so far with all films on Mojo's weekend chart totaling a mere $91.8 million with the top twelve grossing just over $81 million. This weekend, however, should find the top twelve alone combining to bring in over $100 million as the month is shaping up to be the second highest grossing September ever, just behind last year's record performance for the month.

A pair of newcomers are expected to finish #2 and #3 for the weekend behind last week’s winner **Cool Spot**, beginning with Universal's comedy **Night School** followed by the Warner Bros. animated title **Smallfoot**. Additional new releases include Lionsgate's release of the CBS horror-thriller **Hell Fest** and Pinnacle Peak's **Little Women** opening in a moderate number of locations.

Set to hold second place is Universal's comedy **Night School** starring **Kevin Hart** and **Tiffany Haddish**. The film is set to debut in just over 3,000 locations and the studio is anticipating a debut in the mid-$20 million range, but we're expected a performance much higher, right now forecasting **$32 million** for the three-day.

A look at IMDb page view data shows the film pacing ahead of **Central Intelligence**, **Girls Trip**, **Barbershop: The Next Cut** and **Think Like a Man Too** over the two weeks leading up to release while pacing a bit behind **Ride Along**. Additionally, online ticket retailer Fandango.com is reporting **Night School** is pacing ahead of both **Central Intelligence** ($35.5m opening) and **Ride Along 2**($35.2m debut) at the same point in the company's sales cycle. All said, a strong debut for the $29 million production seems a no-brainer and another box office success for producer **Will Packer**.

Looking at a third place finish is WB's **Smallfoot**, which is debuting in over 4,100 locations with the studio anticipating a debut anywhere from $20-25 million. An obvious comp is to WB's 2016 animated title **Storks**, which also opened in late September, debuting with $21.3 million from 3,922 theaters. Like **Smallfoot**, **Storks** was an original IP and the two films seem to have had a similar impact on critics with **Smallfoot** currently holding a score of 57 on Metacritic vs. the 56 for **Storks**. Looking at IMDb page view data **Smallfoot** is outperforming **Storks** over the two weeks leading up to release, though over the three months leading up to release **Storks** holds the edge.

**Smallfoot** is also pacing *just* behind 2017's **The Emoji Movie**, which opened with $24.5 million in 4,075 theaters, as well as just behind 2013's **Planes**, which opened with $22.2 million in early August. All of this leads us to an expected opening around **$23 million** with wiggle room on either side. The good news is there isn't another animated title until Universal's **The Grinch** on November 9 so should audiences take to it, **Smallfoot** could enjoy a solid run at the box office.

Looking at a fourth place finish is last weekend's champ, Universal and Amblin's **The House with a Clock in Its Walls**. After debuting with $26.6 million last weekend we're anticipating a dip around ~47% this weekend and a three-day around **$14 million**, pushing the film's domestic gross over $46 million by the end of the weekend. One factor that could find **House** suffering a bigger drop than our current forecast is incoming competition from **Smallfoot**, not to mention the "B+" CinemaScore, which is a little soft for a family film.

Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate's **A Simple Favor**, as it held strong in its sophomore session last weekend and we're anticipating a similar performance this week and a drop around 33% for a **$6.8 million** three-day. Should it hold to this forecast it will be looking to top $43 million by the end of the weekend.

Outside the top five we find Lionsgate's release of CBS Films's **Hell Fest** from director **Gregory Plotkin**(**Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension**, **Happy Death Day**). Opening in 2,293 locations, tracking has the film opening somewhere between the $3.7 million opening for **Unfriended: Dark Web** and the $7 million debut for **You're Next** in 2013 with the studio hoping for an opening around $5-6 million. Our analysis suggests a debut anywhere from $3.2-5.2 million, especially when looking at **You're Next** and **Unfriended: Dark Web** and our forecast falls right in the middle of our anticipated range, expecting a **$4.25 million** debut.

Further down the chart we have Pinnacle Peak's moderate release of **Little Women** debuting in 643 locations. A release like this is tough to nail down, but an opening anywhere from **$1-1.5 million** seems a safe expectation.

In limited release, Neon will debut **Monsters and Men** in 18 locations; Fox Searchlight will open **The Old Man & the Gun** in five theaters; and IFC will debut **Black 47** in one theater.

This weekend's forecast is directly below. This post will be updated on Friday morning with Thursday night preview results followed by Friday estimates on Saturday morning, and a complete weekend recap on Sunday morning.

* **Cool Spot** (4,356 theaters) - $35.0 M
* **Night School** (3,010 theaters) - $32.0 M
* **Smallfoot** (4,131 theaters) - $23.0 M
* **The House With A Clock In Its Walls** (3,592 theaters) - $14.1 M
* **A Simple Favor** (3,073 theaters) - $6.8 M
* **The Nun** (3,331 theaters) - $5.0 M
* **Crazy Rich Asians** (2,347 theaters) - $4.4 M
* **Hell Fest** (2,293 theaters) - $4.3 M
* **The Predator** (2,926 theaters) - $4.0 M
* **White Boy Rick** (2,017 theaters) - $2.6 M
* **Peppermint** (2,002 theaters) - $1.7 M