In a surprising turn of events, Sony’s The Equalizer II actually opened higher than Universal’s Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again, as the two sequels opened to $35 and $34 million respectively. Based on Friday numbers it seemed as though Mamma Mia would be closer to $40 million, and Equalizer closer to $33 million, making this a surprising weekend. On top of that, it was also one of the most sequel heavy weekends in recent memory; of the top 12 films, only two of them were non-sequels. Let’s unpack how the weekend unfolded.

The Equalizer II overperformed this weekend with an excellent $35.8 million. That debut is actually higher than its predecessors $34 million debut from back in 2014, which is especially surprising considering it did not exactly seem immune to audience deterioration; reviews weren’t great, competition was heavy, and it had been a long time since its predecessor, all factors that would suggest a drop-off in attendance. However, none of this seemed to matter, as Denzel Washington (in his first sequel) has proven to be a consistent draw at the box office. There’s a slim chance that this manages to top the century mark domestically, but with tough competition from Mission: Impossible – Fallout next weekend, it’s going to be difficult.

Almost ten years to the date after its predecessor, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again opened in second with an estimated $34.3 million. Despite much stronger reviews and an interesting gimmick to bring back audiences, it didn’t reach too far, and it seems the fanbase the original did have mostly flocked to it on Friday, leading to a worrying 23% drop on Saturday. This was an unusually front-loaded opening for this type of film, which doesn’t suggest a lengthy run in the coming weeks. Surprisingly, this is actually a lower opening than its predecessor when adjusted for inflation, which opened to $35.8 million alongside The Dark Knight. That film also legged it out to $186 million, and it appears as though Here We Go Again may struggle to make half of that. All things considered, this is a somewhat disappointing opening, but the real money for this film will likely come from overseas, as the original film made more than $460 million outside North America.

All the way down in 9th place was Unfriended: Dark Web, which disappointed with just $3.4 million, less than a quarter of what its predecessor did back in 2015. Granted, expecting it to match that films $15.8 million debut would’ve been unreasonable due to the smaller release, but a drop-off this high was somewhat of a surprise. For now, Upgrade will easily hold onto its record as BH Tilt’s highest grossing release, even with a total domestic gross of under $12 million. This opening is actually lower than fellow Blumhouse title The First Purge in its third weekend, as the four-quel is at nearly $100 million worldwide.

Among holdovers, Hotel Transylvania 3 was down to third with $23.1 million, running roughly on par with its predecessor in its 10 day total. While it did fall more than Transylvania 2, weekday numbers were obviously stronger as a result of the summer break. Black Panther added an additional 126 locations in an effort to top $700 million, but unfortunately averaged just $162 per location, meaning it added just $25K, leaving it still about $70K shy of that mark.

Moving into the specialty market, Blindspotting was the biggest new release, as it opened in 14 locations with a solid $23K average. Lionsgate is set to open the film nationwide next weekend. Additionally, A24 enjoyed a great expansion for Eighth Grade, as they moved it into 33 locations and were rewarded with a $794K weekend, translating to a per theater average of $24K. The film will likely be in several hundred locations next weekend.