A very busy summer 2018 season will come to an end this weekend, with Warner Brothers sleeper hit Crazy Rich Asians all but guaranteed to lead the charge. Meanwhile, Sony is expanding their screen-based thriller Searching into nationwide release, while Lionsgate is opening their sci-fi title Kin. Additionally, MGM is releasing their Nazi war drama Operation Finale.

Labor Day is almost always one of the slowest weekends of the year, and 2018 is looking like no expection. Last year, Labor Day weekend was so bad it spawned many articles asking if the box office was dying – that is, until It came out a week later and broke every record in the book. 2018 won’t be nearly as dour, however, mostly because of Crazy Rich Asians. The romantic comedy should collect another $20 million or so over the four day frame, which is above average for the Holiday.

The biggest release of the weekend is Kin, a science fiction title released by Lionsgate. The studio purchased the rights to the title for roughly $30 million at SXSW two years ago – before production even began. Lionsgate seemed to have some confidence in the project, booking 2,100 locations and a limited IMAX release. Critics, however, begged to differ, as the title sits at just 23% on Rotten Tomatoes as of the time of this writing. While tracking has pegged it in the mid-high digits, but realistically it seems like it will be closer to $4 million. It’s hard to imagine it going under $3 million, but never say never.

Also opening is Sony’s Sundance title Searching, which made a splash in limited release last weekend as it opened in 9 locations to the tune of $388K. Reportedly, Sony is targeting around 1,100 locations for the weekend. That’s a fairly moderate expansion, but also enough to fill most of the demand. This is a smart move by Sony, because if it winds up being an unexpected hit, they can capitalize on that buzz and add more locations next weekend.

Two other titles are being released in moderate expansion; one of which is Pantelion’s Ya Veremos. The Hispanic-centered Lionsgate offshoot had a big hit earlier this summer in the form of Overboard, which quietly amassed over $50 million despite opening in just 1,623 locations. Veremos is getting a smaller, 350 location release, mostly due to the fact that opening foreign language titles in any more than that can be a big risk.

Also opening in 475 locations is the gothic horror drama The Little Stranger. The closest comparison here would probably be Tulip Fever, which flopped last year on the same weekend. If Stranger matches that films per theater average, it will open to around $720K. That wouldn’t be too surprising, but it will also likely push over $1 million for the weekend.

Predictions (Four Day)

Crazy Rich Asians – $26 million The Meg – $13 million Mission: Impossible Fallout – $9 million The Happytime Murders – $7.8 million Mile 22 – $6.7 million

Operation Finale – $7M

Searching – $3.2 million

KIN – $2.7 million