Hollywood records worst box office weekend in 16 years

It’s been a disappointing summer at the box office, epitomised by the weekend gone, which is financially the worst performing weekend in the US for 16 years. It’s thought that Hurricane Harvey has played a big part in this, as many theaters in Texas have been forced to close.

While another factor is Saturday evening’s boxing match which saw Floyd Mayweather beat Conor McGregor in 10 rounds. Variety reports that this does tend to be a quiet period for cinema though:

There have been lulls around this time in recent years. In 2014, the first weekend in September made $66 million overall. Two years before that, the Sept. 7-9 frame made $67 million overall. 2008 saw a similar slump in the Sep. 5–7 frame.

But not since the aftermath of 9/11 in late September, 2001 have figures dropped quite so low. As the Sept. 21-23 frame in 2001 earned just $59 million overall. That’s $6 million less than this weekend’s overall box office weekend estimates ($65 million).

The Hitman’s Bodyguard maintained top spot with $10 million, while Leap! debuted in third with half the takings. See the full top 10 below via Box Office Mojo: