Kevin Costner, Diane Lane Thriller 'Let Him Go' Tops Election Week Box Office

In this image released by Focus Features, Diane Lane, left, and Kevin Costner appear in a scene from Let Him Go. (Kimberley FrenchFocus Features via AP)
In this image released by Focus Features, Diane Lane, left, and Kevin Costner appear in a scene from Let Him Go. (Kimberley FrenchFocus Features via AP)
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Kevin Costner, Diane Lane Thriller 'Let Him Go' Tops Election Week Box Office

In this image released by Focus Features, Diane Lane, left, and Kevin Costner appear in a scene from Let Him Go. (Kimberley FrenchFocus Features via AP)
In this image released by Focus Features, Diane Lane, left, and Kevin Costner appear in a scene from Let Him Go. (Kimberley FrenchFocus Features via AP)

Focus Features’ “Let Him Go” provided a few sparks at an otherwise lifeless box office, opening over the weekend with an estimated $4.1 million.

In these COVID times, that was good enough for a first place finish. Focus also took second place with the sophomore weekend of its horror film “Come Play.” Co-produced with Amblin Partners, “Come Play” netted $1.7 million domestically bringing its total to $5.6 million.

The specialty division of Universal Pictures has been active during coronavirus in part because of a deal that its studio parent company inked with AMC Theaters. The pact enables Universal and Focus to release their movies in on-demand platforms within 17 days of their theatrical debuts. In return, AMC receives a cut of digital revenues.

Of course, the big story of the weekend was not cinemas. It was a presidential election that stretched from Tuesday to Saturday, dominating the news and Americans’ attention.

“Let Him Go” stars Kevin Costner as a retired sheriff and Diane Lane as his wife. The couple leave their Montana ranch to rescue their young grandson from the clutches of a dangerous family living in the Dakotas -- a confrontation that ends in violence. Lesley Manville, who scored an Oscar nomination for her work in another Focus release, 2017 “Phantom Thread,” co-stars. “Let Him Go” was written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, the filmmaker behind “The Family Stone.”

“War With Grandpa,” a Robert De Niro family comedy from 101 Studios, took third place, grossing $1.5 million to bring its total after three weeks to $13.4 million. Open Road’s “Honest Thief,” a thriller with Liam Neeson, was fourth with $1.1 million, pushing its haul to $11.2 million.

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” rounded out the top five with $905,000 domestically. That pushed the sci-fi thriller’s stateside haul to $55.1 million. Globally, the movie has grossed $350.8 million. Given that Warner Bros., the studio behind the film, has announced that “Tenet” will launch on home entertainment in December, the movie has largely wrapped up its box office run. Given its $200 million price tag and marketing costs, “Tenet” will likely fall short of profitability.

Warner Bros. said “The Witches,” the Robert Zemeckis adaptation of the Roald Dahl novel, generated $3.5 million in overseas box office, bringing its total to $10.1 million. In the US, “The Witches” opted to debut on HBO Max instead of screening in theaters.

Also of note: Disney’s re-release of “Toy Story,” picked up $505,000 some 25 years after it first opened in theaters and became a family classic.

At this point, exhibitors will take what they can get in terms of ticket sales, but with box office grosses like these, it’s going to be a long, potentially deadly winter for theaters. If “Wonder Woman 1984” moves from its Christmas release, it’s unclear how theaters will be able to stay open barring some significant government assistance.



Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
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Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Fans roared in excitement and organizers sighed with relief as the Tomorrowland music festival kicked off Friday — just two days after a massive fire engulfed the main stage and threw one of Europe's biggest summer concert events into doubt.

Workers labored around the clock to clear out the debris from the elaborate backdrop that was consumed in Wednesday's fire.

Shouting ‘’We made it!'', the festival's opening performers, Australian electronic music group Nervo, were able to take to the main stage Friday after a last-minute scramble and slight delay. Some charred frames were still visible behind them.

No one was hurt in the fire, organizers said. The causes are being investigated.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world attend Tomorrowland's annual multi-day festival outside the Belgian town of Boom.

Some 38,000 people were camping at the festival site Friday, Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said.

’’Maybe there are some few people that say, OK, we would like to have a refund, but it’s only like a very small percentage because most of them are still coming to the festival,” she told AP.

“It is all about unity, and I think with a good vibe and a positive energy that our festival-goers give to each other and the music we offer, I think they will still have a good time,″ she said. ’’We really tried our best.″

Australian fans Zak Hiscock and Brooke Antoniou — who traveled half the world to see the famed festival as part of a summer holiday in Europe — described hearing about the fire.

“We were sitting having dinner when we actually heard the news of the stage burning down. We were very devastated and shattered, quite upset because we travelled a long way,'' Hiscock said.

Ukrainian visitor Oleksandr Beshkynskyi shared their joy that the festival went ahead as planned.

‘’It’s not just about the one DJ or two DJs you’re looking to see, but about all the mood and about the dream being alive," Beshkynskyi said.