Weapons Is No. 1, Jaws Re-Release Beats Newcomers

Box office, welcome to the dog days of summer. In this terribly sluggish Labor Day holiday weekend, a horror movie in its fourth weekend of release was No. 1 while a 50-year-old blockbuster beat out two newcomers.

“Weapons,” after briefly ceding the crown to Netflix’s “Kpop Demon Hunters,” reclaimed the top spot in North America with $10.2 million over the traditional weekend and an estimated $12.4 million through Monday. So far, the scary movie has earned $134.6 million domestically and $250 million globally against a $38 million budget. Zach Cregger’s sleeper success is the latest theatrical winner for Warner Bros., which suffered a rocky start to the year but has since rebounded with hits like “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners,” “Final Destination Bloodlines,” “F1: The Movie” (which the studio distributed for Apple) and “Superman.”

In second place, a “Jaws” 50th anniversary re-release collected $8.1 million from 3,200 theaters over the weekend and an estimated $9.8 million through Monday. Turns out, that shark still has teeth. Those ticket sales were above two new major studio offerings, Sony’s crime comedy “Caught Stealing” and Disney and 20th Century’s satire “The Roses.” “Jaws” is widely credited with launching the summer blockbuster, with its outsized profits making studios realize the appeal of releasing films when kids were out of school, as well as the merchandising opportunities that an escapist adventure can create.

“Caught Stealing,” directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Austin Butler and Zoe Kravitz, landed at No. 3 with $7.8 million over the traditional weekend and an estimated $9.5 million over the four-day holiday frame. It’s a so-so start for the $40 million budgeted film, about a New York City bartender who finds himself in the crosshairs of threatening gangsters after agreeing to watch his neighbor’s cat. Though reviews were positive (84% on Rotten…