NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Actuals: ‘Zootopia’ Easily Remains #1 with $51.3M; ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ #2 with a Healthy $24.7M

Disney’s Zootopia continued to lead the box office with ease this weekend with a second weekend take of $51.34 million. The critically acclaimed 3D computer animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios was down just 32 percent from last weekend’s debut; a sure sign of just how strong word of mouth is for the film. Zootopia registered the fifth largest second weekend performance ever for an animated film (behind only 2004’s Shrek 2, 2010’s Toy Story 3, 2007’s Shrek the Third and last year’s Inside Out). The film has grossed a very impressive $143.96 million through ten days of release. That places the film 30.5 percent ahead of the $110.31 million ten-day start of 2014’s Big Hero 6 (which fell 38 percent in its second weekend to gross $34.66 million). Given its strong word of mouth, the approaching Easter holiday and the relative lack of competition for family audiences it will face throughout the rest of March and early April, Zootopia should continue to hold up very well going forward.

Paramount’s 10 Cloverfield Lane opened in second place with $24.70 million. The J.J. Abrams produced thriller starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and John Goodman opened in line with its wide ranging expectations and performed well with its modest price tag in mind. 10 Cloverfield Lane, which has been referred to as a relative to 2008’s Cloverfield, opened 38 percent below the $40.06 million three-day start of Cloverfield, but wasn’t expected to deliver that type of debut this weekend. 10 Cloverfield Lane performed more similar to last year’s The Visit, which opened with $25.43 million.

10 Cloverfield Lane opened with $8.96 million on Friday (which included a sizable $1.8 million from Thursday evening shows), increased 8 percent on Saturday to gross $9.68 million and declined 37 percent on Sunday to take in $6.06 million. That placed the film’s opening weekend to Friday ratio at 2.76 to 1. The audience breakdown for 10 Cloverfield Lane skewed towards male moviegoers (60 percent) and heavily towards moviegoers over the age of 25 (68 percent). 10 Cloverfield Lane has received strong critical reviews and currently boasts an encouraging 85 percent audience score on Flixster. The film didn’t go over as strongly on CinemaScore, where it received a B- rating.

Deadpool claimed third place with $10.94 million. The Ryan Reynolds led blockbuster antihero film from Fox stabilized nicely this weekend, as it was down 35 percent. Deadpool continues to pad its total as the highest grossing release of 2016 thus far with a massive 31-day gross of $328.22 million. The film is running an exceptional 51 percent ahead of the $216.74 million 31-day take of 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Deadpool is likely to hold up well again next weekend, before Warner’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice enters the marketplace the following week on March 25.

London Has Fallen followed very closely behind in fourth place with $10.84 million. The action thriller sequel from Focus and Gramercy was down a sizable, but understandable 50 percent from last weekend’s debut. In comparison, 2013’s Olympus Has Fallen fell 53 percent in its second weekend to gross $14.15 million. London Has Fallen has grossed $39.02 million in ten days. That is in line with expectations but is 29 percent softer than the $54.89 million ten-day take of Olympus Has Fallen.

Paramount’s Whiskey Tango Foxtrot rounded out the weekend’s top five with $4.67 million. The R-rated comedy starring Tina Fey held up nicely this weekend, as it was down 37 percent from last weekend. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has grossed $14.64 million in ten days. Despite this weekend’s hold, the film is still performing below expectations and is running 35 percent behind the $22.44 million ten-day take of 2014’s This is Where I Leave You (which fell 40 percent in its second weekend to gross $6.89 million).

The Perfect Match debuted in sixth place with $4.29 million. That gave the romantic comedy from Lionsgate and Codeblack Films a very solid per-location average of $4,642 from a relatively modest 925 locations. The Perfect Match started out with $1.55 million on Friday, increased 11 percent on Saturday to gross $1.73 million and fell 41 percent on Sunday to gross $1.01 million. That gave the film an opening weekend to Friday ratio of 2.76 to 1. The Perfect Match currently has a 63 percent audience score on Flixster.

Meanwhile, Focus’ The Young Messiah and Sony’s The Brothers Grimsby were both off to very poor starts this weekend. The Young Messiah opened in seventh place with $3.29 million, while the Sacha Baron Cohen led The Brothers Grimsby followed in eighth place with $3.26 million. Both films opened below their already modest respective expectations. The Young Messiah appears to be going over better with moviegoers, as the film received an A- rating on CinemaScore and has a current Flixster audience score of 71 percent, whereas The Brothers Grimsby received a B- rating on CinemaScore and has a current Flixster audience score of just 56 percent.