Weekend Actuals: ‘A Quiet Place’ Shouts with Huge $50.2M at No. 1; ‘Ready Player One’ Holds Well with $24.6M; ‘Blockers’ Takes $20.5M in 3rd

Monday Update:

A Quiet Place was far louder than expected this weekend, with a $50.2 million debut. Pre-release expectations had generally projected a $30-$35 million start.

Paramount’s horror followed in the footsteps of ItGet Out, and Split in continuing an unprecedented strong streak of horror titles at the box office in 2017 and 2018.

It also marks the first film to land above expectations for Paramount in many months, after a series of the studio’s titles fell below pre-release projections in recent months, including Downsizing, Suburbicon, and mother!

“This movie really transcended the genre and connected to everyone,” Paramount’s President of Domestic Distribution Kyle Davies told Boxoffice in an exclusive interview.

“[Director and costar] John [Krasinski] is an incredibly talented filmmaker, but it’s more than just a thrill ride. Like how Get Out became socially relevant, or It being about coming of age which is part of everyone’s psyche, Quiet is about family which is important to everybody. So this hit a nerve. It has connected to people’s need to protect family in a dangerous time.”

Elsewhere at the box office, Universal’s R-rated comedy Blockers partied to third place with $20.5 million. The prom-night-themed film should likely hold well throughout April and May, as high school prom season gets into full swing. [Read our interview with Blockers director Kay Cannon here.]

Last weekend’s leader, Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros.’ Ready Player Onefell to second place with $24.6 million, a 41.0 percent decline.

Disney’s Black Panther spent a terrific eighth weekend in the box office top five, the first film to do so since Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman did so on the same weekend in early February.

Stats

Total box office this weekend was $163.2 million. That’s 20.0 percent above last frame. It’s also 36.0 percent above the same weekend last year, snapping a five weekend streak in which box office fell lower than during the equivalent frame of 2017.

Year-to-date box office stands at $3.11 billion, or 1.6 percent behind last year. However, that’s an uptick from YTD box office standing at -3.2 percent behind 2017 after last weekend.

Our table of weekend actuals is below, after our Sunday update featuring fuller analysis.


Sunday Update:

A Quiet Place has been anything but quiet this weekend. The John Kraskinski-directed horror film debuted at No. 1 with an estimated $50 million including Thursday night previews, a huge sum that blasted past all expectations.That makes it an even bigger smash in its opening frame than last year’s blockbusters Get Out and Split, which debuted to $33.3 million and $40 million, respectively, on their way to $176 million and $138 million domestic totals.

Starring Krasinski and his real-life wife Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place went into the weekend with even the most bullish prognosticators pegging it in the mid-$30 million range. But with word-of-mouth hot following its SXSW debut and enthusiastic critics boosting its Rotten Tomatoes score to an impressive 97%, the spookfest managed to break out in a big way. This is additionally a major win for the film’s distributor Paramount, which has been struggling over the last several years thanks to high-profile underperformers like Annihilation, Downsizing and Ghost in the Shell, to name just a recent few.

Also making a splash this weekend was Universal’s Blockers, another buzzy title that made its debut at SXSW and similarly won over critics. With an estimated $21.4 million including Thursday night previews, the Leslie Mann-John Cena comedy did well enough for third place, even as A Quiet Place seems to have stolen away some of its audience by breaking out beyond the traditional horror crowd.

[Read our interview with Blockers director Kay Cannon here.]

The good news for Blockers is that its opening is similar to the leggy hit Game Night, which debuted to $17 million back in February and has taken in over $67 million thus far. With similarly strong reviews and a likable cast, it could enjoy a comparable trajectory over the next several weeks. The audience for Blockers was almost evenly split between women and men (51% to 49%), while it skewed slightly older with 56% of the opening weekend crowd over the age of 25.

The weekend’s other two wide openers debuted to decidedly less-impressive numbers. First, Entertainment Studios’  Chappaquiddick came in at No. 7 with a so-so $6.2 million, which, while not great, is actually at the high end of expectations. The fact-based Ted Kennedy drama had mainly positive reviews (its Rotten Tomatoes score is a solid 80%), but it was up against two crowd-pleasers that also had the critics on their side, which likely siphoned off a portion of its intended audience. It was simply the wrong weekend for a period political drama to flourish; this one may have fared better in the fall, when audiences tend to gravitate towards prestige fare like this in the lead-up to awards season. Debuting in 1,560 locations, the per-theater average on this one was $3,974.

Debuting outside the Top 10 was Mirror and LD’s The Miracle Season, the fact-based drama about a high school volleyball team that simply couldn’t compete on a crowded box office court this weekend. With $4.1 million from 1,707 locations, the film had the worst reviews of this weekend’s new crop by far (though it has a solid “A” Cinemascore), and its inspirational story and lead performance from Oscar winner Helen Hunt simply couldn’t overcome that. It also didn’t help that the faith-based phenomenon I Can Only Imagine continued to corner the “inspirational drama” market in its fourth weekend in theaters.

Dropping one spot to second was last weekend’s champ Ready Player One, which held well in its sophomore frame with an estimated $25 million. That represents a drop of just 40% from its $41.7 million debut over the three-day period last weekend, giving the Steven Spielberg sci-fi a healthy $96.9 million after ten days in theaters. This one is following a similar trajectory to the director’s Minority Report from way back in 2002. The Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner opened to $35.6 million and dropped just under 40% in weekend two, finishing its run with $132 million domestically (albeit when ticket prices were considerably lower). Ready Player One seems primed to finish closer to $160-$170 million if it continues to hold well in the coming weeks.

Easing just one spot to fourth place, the unstoppable juggernaut Black Panther continued its record-breaking run this weekend with another $8.4 million. With $665.4 million in North America, the superhero blockbuster has now usurped Titanic to become the third highest-grossing film of all time domestically not adjusted for inflation. Only Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar have made more.

The aforementioned I Can Only Imagine continued to chug along impressively, raking in another $8.3 million in fifth place for a grand total of $69 million. The film added even more theaters this weekend and eased just 20 percent. Its total so far puts it only slightly below 2014’s Heaven is for Real, the faith-based hit that had grossed $75.7 million by the same point before finishing with just over $91 million domestically. If Imagine continues posting the kind of small weekend-to-weekend declines it’s enjoyed thus far, Imagine should finish in similar territory.

Dropping four spots to sixth was Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, which took in another $8 million after debuting to a healthy $17.1 million last weekend. The psychological thriller starring Taraji P. Henson now has a total of $31.3 million after ten days, which is a good result for a film with a reported budget of just $20 million.

At No. 8, Sherlock Gnomes grossed an estimated $5.6 million in weekend three, giving it a grand total of $33.8 million thus far. While the animated comedy is posting much better holds than its predecessor Gnomeo and Juliet, that film opened much bigger at $25.3 million and had already grossed over twice as much ($74.3 million) by the same point in its run.

Rounding out the Top 10 are big-budget sequel Pacific Rim Uprising and Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, which grossed $4.9 million and $4.6 million, respectively. Uprising now has $54.9 million domestically after 17 days, a significant drop from its predecessor in North America even as it’s cleaning up overseas. Isle added nearly 400 theaters this weekend and scored a solid per-theater average of $8,606, giving it a grand total of $12 million. The real test for the Fox Searchlight release will come next weekend when it expands wide.

Limited Release:

Director Lynne Ramsay’s critically-heralded thriller You Were Never Really Here starring Joaquin Phoenix did well in its limited debut, taking in $129,911 from only three screens. That gives the Amazon Studios release a per-theater average of $43,304 as it prepares to expand in the coming weeks.

Debuting on four screens, director Andrew Haigh’s Lean on Pete took in just over $50,000 on four screens, giving it a per-theater average of $12,530. The film starring Charley Plummer and Steve Buscemi has a 90% “Certified Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes currently.

Overseas Update:

Ready Player One remained the No. 1 film globally over the weekend, bringing in an estimated $81.7 million in 65 territories for an international cume of $294.4 million and a global tally of $391.3 million. This is fantastic news for the Spielberg sci-fi, particularly as it cost upwards of a reported $175 million to produce. It’s already Spielberg’s biggest film in worldwide box office since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull way back in 2008.

A Quiet Place also performed well in international markets this weekend, bringing in an estimated $21 million overseas for a global total of $71 million.


Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, APR. 6 – SUN, APR. 8

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 A Quiet Place $50,203,562 3,508 $14,311 $50,203,562 1 Paramount
2 Ready Player One $24,624,178 -41% 4,234 0 $5,816 $96,484,703 2 Warner Bros. / DreamWorks
3 Blockers $20,556,350 3,379 $6,084 $20,556,350 1 Universal
4 Black Panther $8,704,968 -24% 2,747 -241 $3,169 $665,630,708 8 Disney
5 Tyler Perry’s Acrimony $8,380,983 -51% 2,006 0 $4,178 $31,665,563 2 Lionsgate
6 I Can Only Imagine $7,801,111 -25% 2,894 246 $2,696 $68,528,313 4 Roadside Attractions
7 Chappaquiddick $5,765,854 1,560 $3,696 $5,765,854 1 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
8 Sherlock Gnomes $5,436,068 -22% 2,733 -929 $1,989 $33,734,129 3 Paramount / MGM
9 Pacific Rim Uprising $4,827,245 -48% 2,627 -1081 $1,838 $54,837,305 3 Universal
10 The Miracle Season $3,950,652 1,707 $2,314 $3,950,652 1 LD Entertainment
11 A Wrinkle in Time $3,301,707 -32% 1,701 -666 $1,941 $90,274,463 5 Walt Disney Pictures
12 Love, Simon $2,767,003 -42% 1,464 -560 $1,890 $37,544,267 4 20th Century Fox
13 Tomb Raider $1,926,315 -61% 1,673 -1115 $1,151 $55,070,405 4 Warner Bros.
14 Paul, Apostle of Christ $1,772,226 -49% 1,262 -211 $1,404 $15,003,077 3 Sony Pictures Entertainment
15 God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness $1,094,495 -59% 1,377 -316 $795 $4,912,576 2 Pure Flix
16 Peter Rabbit $967,606 -54% 1,027 -640 $942 $113,277,600 9 Sony / Columbia

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Isle of Dogs $4,562,854 55% 554 389 $8,236 $12,011,788 3 Fox Searchlight
2 Game Night $1,072,746 -57% 804 -531 $1,334 $67,216,416 7 Warner Bros.
3 The Leisure Seeker $527,339 124% 353 198 $1,494 $1,769,453 5 Sony Pictures Classics
4 Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle $441,016 -35% 478 -305 $923 $403,652,109 16 Sony / Columbia
5 Midnight Sun $423,183 -77% 751 -1377 $563 $9,200,204 3 Open Road
6 The Greatest Showman $370,458 -47% 248 -516 $1,494 $172,961,890 16 Fox
7 Red Sparrow $260,341 -64% 244 -264 $1,067 $46,282,882 6 20th Century Fox
8 Baaghi 2 $249,864 -62% 124 1 $2,015 $1,165,548 2 FIP
9 The Strangers: Prey At Night $194,895 -71% 249 -288 $783 $24,075,961 5 Aviron Pictures
10 Annihilation $155,561 -55% 145 -98 $1,073 $32,501,281 7 Paramount Pictures
11 Death Wish $110,763 -64% 147 -260 $753 $33,674,509 6 MGM
12 Unsane $96,133 -93% 163 -1766 $590 $7,690,044 3 Bleecker Street
13 Ferdinand $72,288 -9% 113 -24 $640 $84,230,756 17 Fox

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Pandas $155,303 33 $4,706 $155,303 1 Warner Bros.
2 You Were Never Really Here $132,829 3 $44,276 $132,829 1 Amazon Studios
3 Finding Your Feet $124,110 106% 57 43 $2,177 $226,792 2 Roadside Attractions
4 Gemini $75,984 138% 56 52 $1,357 $123,537 2 Neon
5 Coco $71,025 -4% 99 -21 $717 $209,624,050 20 Disney
6 Foxtrot $55,918 6% 45 10 $1,243 $439,942 6 Sony Pictures Classics
7 Final Portrait $54,243 67% 21 12 $2,583 $140,399 3 Sony Pictures Classics
8 The Shape of Water $53,458 -44% 80 -33 $668 $63,752,486 19 Fox Searchlight
9 Maze Runner: The Death Cure $48,449 -15% 80 -23 $606 $57,950,769 11 Fox
10 Lean on Pete $46,975 4 $11,744 $46,975 1 A24
11 The Post $46,067 -12% 57 -19 $808 $81,783,079 16 20th Century Fox
12 1945 $39,632 1835% 13 10 $3,049 $491,459 23 Menemsha Films
13 The 15:17 to Paris $37,794 -30% 81 -27 $467 $36,237,990 9 Warner Bros.
14 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri $33,902 -22% 51 -15 $665 $54,421,772 26 Fox Searchlight
15 Star Wars: The Last Jedi $33,544 -50% 61 -48 $550 $620,164,565 17 Disney
16 Leaning Into The Wind $33,202 -36% 32 -7 $1,038 $283,415 5 Magnolia Pictures
17 A Fantastic Woman $31,057 -35% 38 -28 $817 $1,880,736 10 Sony Pictures Classics
18 Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story $28,141 -15% 20 -7 $1,407 $677,016 20 Zeitgeist
19 Call Me by Your Name $27,939 -38% 50 19 $559 $18,035,978 20 Sony Pictures Classics
20 Back to Burgundy $23,070 -37% 14 -4 $1,648 $103,079 3 Music Box Films
21 Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool $21,151 2% 25 1 $846 $937,288 15 Sony Pictures Classics
22 I, Tonya $21,058 -19% 38 -19 $554 $29,980,037 18 Neon
23 Outside In $21,001 49% 14 5 $1,500 $44,811 2 The Orchard
24 Journey’s End $20,905 -55% 28 -7 $747 $132,449 4 Good Deed Entertainment
25 Oh Lucy! $20,481 -19% 24 -6 $853 $270,012 6 Film Movement
26 The Last Suit $13,185 -5% 6 0 $2,198 $73,548 3 Outsider Pictures
27 Loveless $12,059 -63% 35 -24 $345 $531,664 8 Sony Pictures Classics
28 Ismael’s Ghosts $11,146 27% 7 5 $1,592 $53,600 3 Magnolia Pictures
29 Keep The Change $10,835 -9% 9 -4 $1,204 $106,207 4 Kino Lorber
30 Flower $9,247 -79% 36 -65 $257 $319,521 4 The Orchard
31 The Endless $9,083 1 $9,083 $9,083 1 Well Go USA Entertainment
32 A Bag Of Marbles $8,700 -4% 4 0 $2,175 $42,176 3 Gaumont
33 The Insult $8,024 2% 8 -1 $1,003 $990,180 13 Cohen Media Group
34 The Workshop $7,484 557% 8 7 $936 $14,896 3 Strand Releasing
35 The Party $5,824 -50% 20 -15 $291 $723,102 8 Roadside Attractions
36 Operation Red Sea $5,617 -66% 3 0 $1,872 $1,537,187 7 Well Go USA Entertainment
37 Ramen Heads $5,480 -13% 3 -2 $1,827 $45,117 4 Gunpowder & Sky
38 Forever My Girl $5,328 -37% 12 -4 $444 $16,336,261 12 Roadside Attractions/LD Entertainment
39 The Great Silence $5,186 -41% 2 0 $2,593 $23,767 2 Film Movement
40 The China Hustle $4,996 -81% 6 -14 $833 $46,511 2 Magnolia Pictures
41 Claire’s Camera $4,663 -7% 5 1 $933 $55,111 5 Cinema Guild
42 The Heart of Nuba $4,016 1 $4,016 $4,016 1 Abramorama
43 Hostiles $3,813 -79% 13 -40 $293 $29,807,515 16 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
44 The Young Karl Marx $3,244 176% 5 -4 $649 $118,735 7 The Orchard
45 Walk With Me $2,967 75% 3 2 $989 $702,771 14 Kino Lorber
46 ACORN and the Firestorm $2,621 1 $2,621 $2,621 1 First Run Features
47 Vazante $2,472 682% 1 0 $2,472 $22,805 13 Music Box Films
48 The Hurricane Heist $2,335 -93% 8 -28 $292 $6,105,311 5 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
49 Summer In The Forest $2,333 57% 4 3 $583 $20,836 3 Abramorama
50 Samson $2,178 -72% 6 -16 $363 $4,719,494 8 Pure Flix
51 The Last Movie Star $1,649 -56% 3 1 $550 $8,025 2 A24
52 Faces Places $840 -62% 3 -2 $280 $950,487 27 Cohen Media Group
53 Tehran Taboo $744 -71% 3 0 $248 $73,681 8 Kino Lorber
54 King Of Hearts (2018 re-release) $672 152% 1 0 $672 $17,646 7 Cohen Media Group
55 In Between $641 -11% 1 -1 $641 $105,776 14 Film Movement
56 Have A Nice Day $363 13% 1 0 $363 $78,796 11 Strand Releasing
57 The Sacrifice (2017 re-release) $361 1 $361 $61,018 25 Kino Lorber
58 Double Lover $343 67% 2 1 $172 $167,093 8 Cohen Media Group
59 The Crime of Monsieur Lange $271 1 $271 $35,601 21 Rialto Pictures

Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, APR. 6 – SUN, APR. 8

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 A Quiet Place $50,000,000 3,508 $14,253 $50,000,000 1 Paramount
2 Ready Player One $25,060,000 -40% 4,234 0 $5,919 $96,920,525 2 Warner Bros. / DreamWorks
3 Blockers $21,439,000 3,379 $6,345 $21,439,000 1 Universal
4 Black Panther $8,430,000 -27% 2,747 -241 $3,069 $665,355,740 8 Disney
5 I Can Only Imagine $8,356,800 -20% 2,894 246 $2,888 $69,084,002 4 Roadside Attractions
6 Tyler Perry’s Acrimony $8,065,000 -53% 2,006 0 $4,020 $31,349,580 2 Lionsgate
7 Chappaquiddick $6,200,000 1,560 $3,974 $6,200,000 1 Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures
8 Sherlock Gnomes $5,600,000 -20% 2,733 -929 $2,049 $33,898,061 3 Paramount / MGM
9 Pacific Rim Uprising $4,910,000 -48% 2,627 -1081 $1,869 $54,920,060 3 Universal
10 The Miracle Season $4,137,000 1,707 $2,424 $4,137,000 1 LD Entertainment
11 A Wrinkle in Time $3,150,000 -35% 1,701 -666 $1,852 $90,122,756 5 Walt Disney Pictures
12 Love, Simon $2,765,000 -42% 1,464 -560 $1,889 $37,542,264 4 20th Century Fox
13 Tomb Raider $1,965,000 -60% 1,673 -1115 $1,175 $55,109,090 4 Warner Bros.
14 Paul, Apostle of Christ $1,800,000 -48% 1,262 -211 $1,426 $15,030,851 3 Sony Pictures Entertainment
15 God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness $1,120,000 -58% 1,377 -316 $813 $4,938,081 2 Pure Flix
16 Peter Rabbit $1,000,000 -53% 1,027 -640 $974 $113,309,994 9 Sony / Columbia

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Isle of Dogs $4,600,000 56% 554 389 $8,303 $12,048,934 3 Fox Searchlight
2 Game Night $1,140,000 -55% 804 -531 $1,418 $67,283,670 7 Warner Bros.
3 The Death of Stalin $1,108,754 -18% 554 70 $2,001 $5,596,369 5 IFC Films
4 The Leisure Seeker $577,912 145% 353 198 $1,637 $1,820,026 5 Sony Pictures Classics
5 Midnight Sun $454,653 -75% 751 -1377 $605 $9,231,674 3 Open Road
6 Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle $430,000 -37% 478 -305 $900 $403,641,093 16 Sony / Columbia
7 The Greatest Showman $370,000 -47% 248 -516 $1,492 $172,961,432 16 Fox
8 Red Sparrow $270,000 -62% 244 -264 $1,107 $46,292,541 6 20th Century Fox
9 Baaghi 2 $255,000 -61% 124 1 $2,056 $1,170,574 2 FIP
10 The Strangers: Prey At Night $175,000 -74% 249 -288 $703 $24,056,066 5 Aviron Pictures
11 Annihilation $155,000 -55% 145 -98 $1,069 $32,500,720 7 Paramount Pictures
12 Unsane $92,166 -94% 163 -1766 $565 $7,686,077 3 Bleecker Street

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 You Were Never Really Here $129,911 3 $43,304 $129,911 1 Amazon Studios
2 Finding Your Feet $127,265 112% 57 43 $2,233 $229,947 2 Roadside Attractions
3 Gemini $73,071 129% 56 52 $1,305 $126,051 2 Neon
4 Coco $66,000 -11% 99 -21 $667 $209,619,025 20 Disney
5 Final Portrait $59,600 84% 21 12 $2,838 $145,756 3 Sony Pictures Classics
6 Foxtrot $58,093 10% 45 10 $1,291 $442,117 6 Sony Pictures Classics
7 Itzhak $51,243 29 $1,767 $51,243 5 Greenwich Entertainment
8 Lean on Pete $50,118 4 $12,530 $50,118 1 A24
9 Star Wars: The Last Jedi $37,000 -45% 61 -48 $607 $620,168,021 17 Disney
10 A Fantastic Woman $35,419 -26% 38 -28 $932 $1,885,098 10 Sony Pictures Classics
11 Call Me by Your Name $28,650 -36% 50 19 $573 $18,036,689 20 Sony Pictures Classics
12 Back to Burgundy $24,864 -32% 14 -4 $1,776 $104,873 3 Music Box Films
13 Outside In $23,393 65% 14 5 $1,671 $47,203 2 The Orchard
14 Journey’s End $23,000 -51% 28 -7 $821 $134,544 4 Good Deed Entertainment
15 Love After Love $14,054 24% 3 2 $4,685 $31,417 2 IFC Films
16 Flower $10,921 -75% 36 -65 $303 $321,195 4 The Orchard
17 The Endless $8,600 1 $8,600 $8,600 1 Well Go USA Entertainment
18 Where Is Kyra? $7,000 1 $7,000 $7,000 1 Great Point Media
19 Getting Grace $6,211 -66% 7 -8 $887 $151,300 3 Hannover House
20 Ramen Heads $5,780 -8% 3 -2 $1,927 $45,417 4 Gunpowder & Sky
21 The Young Karl Marx $3,244 176% 5 -4 $649 $118,735 7 The Orchard
22 Samson $1,775 -77% 6 -16 $296 $4,719,091 8 Pure Flix

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