Monday Update:
For only the third time in the last three years, a film lost the #1 spot at the box office only to regain it again. Paramount’s horror A Quiet Place had debuted in the top spot, fell to second place last frame, then reclaimed the title this weekend with $20.9 million.
The last time a film’s #1 stay was interrupted was in January, when Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ceded a weekend to Maze Runner: The Death Cure before reclaiming the top spot. But the last time before that had been more than two years prior, when The Martian gave up a weekend to Goosebumps right before Halloween.
Last weekend’s leader, Warner Bros.’ fantasy action Rampage, dropped to second place with $20.0 million. Sunday’s estimates placed the two films exactly $1.0 million apart, but when all was said and done, Monday’s actuals were even closer than that, as only $817 thousand separated the two titles. That’s the third time in seven months where the top two films finished less than a million dollars apart.
STX’s comedy I Feel Pretty started in third place with $16.0 million, about in line with expectations. Amy Schumer’s three starring roles have each opened progressively lower — Trainwreck debuted with $30.0 million, then Snatched started with $19.5 million.
Fox Searchlight’s comedy sequel Super Troopers 2 came in far above expectations with a fourth place start of $15.1 million. Many pre-release projections had the film opening with less than half that amount, and the highest that any user had projected on prediction website Box Office Theory was $15.0 million. 2002’s original Super Troopers had only earned $18.4 million in theaters, or $29.2 million adjusted for ticket price inflation, although the film subsequently gained a cult following.
Comparisons
Total box office this weekend was $125.4 million. That’s 15.5 percent below last frame, but 16.6 percent above the same weekend last year, when Fate of the Furious led for a second time.
Year-to-date box office stands at $3.49 billion, or 1.93 percent behind this same point last year. That’s the slightest of drops from the -1.89 percent YTD level after last weekend.
While YTD box office has stood behind last year’s levels for five consecutive weekends now, that losing streak seems almost certain to end next weekend, with the sure-to-be-mammoth opening of Avengers: Infinity War.
Sunday Update:
A Quiet Place has every reason to shout this weekend. The horror mega-hit reclaimed the top spot at the box office with an estimated $22 million in its third go-round, despite facing stiff competition from holdover Rampage as well as newcomers I Feel Pretty and Super Troopers 2, the latter of which mounted an especially impressive debut relative to expectations.
After being dethroned last weekend by Dwayne Johnson and a giant ape, A Quiet Place rose above the fray once more thanks to another strong hold. The Paramount release eased just 33 percent in its third frame, giving it a sizzling total of $132.3 million to date. That’s a fantastic result for the John Krasinski-directed horror film, which has continued to benefit from incredible word-of-mouth. Indeed, the scare flick is performing similarly to last year’s Get Out, which fell a mere 26% in its own third weekend with $20.7 million. Though A Quiet Place‘s weekend-to-weekend drops have been slightly larger than those of the Jordan Peele blockbuster, it’s nevertheless tracking 19 percent ahead of that film at the same point in its run.
In second place, Rampage took in an estimated $21 million in its sophomore frame, representing a surprisingly-solid drop of just 41 percent. With $66.6 million in the bank thus far in North America, the reported $120 million production is predictably performing much better overseas, where it’s already grossed three times its domestic total. Stateside, this one may struggle to reach $100 million, particularly considering it has to contend with the Avengers: Infinity War behemoth next weekend.
Third place was a two-way race this weekend, but Amy Schumer’s starpower helped I Feel Pretty rise above both Super Troopers 2 with an estimated $16.2 million in its opening frame. That’s an okay result for the STX comedy, which nevertheless came in below the opening weekend of Schumer’s last star vehicle Snatched. That film opened to $19.5 million last May but dropped precipitously in subsequent weeks, ultimately finishing with a disappointing $45.8 million in North America.
With this so-so opening, I Feel Pretty will need to demonstrate strong holds in the coming weeks. Compared with Snatched, Pretty boasts a slightly better CinemaScore (“B+” vs. “B”) and seems to be well-liked by its target audience of young women, with those under 25 giving it an A and those under 18 awarding it a solid-gold A+ score. The film has been the subject of some controversy on social media over a concept some saw as promoting body-shaming, though that seems to have eased somewhat now that audiences have had the chance to watch the full movie. The real test for this one will come next weekend, as word-of-mouth will determine whether it sinks or swims in the long term.
Fox’s Super Troopers 2 performed way beyond expectations in fourth place, with the sequel to the 2002 comedy taking in $14.7 million in its debut frame. That’s only a few million shy of what the first film grossed over its entire run, and there was clearly pent-up demand for the title as it took in a shockingly-good $7.9 million on its opening day Friday. It bears mentioning that though Troopers 2 was released by Fox, it raised nearly $4.7 million of its reported $13.5 million budget via crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. In collaboration with Fandango, backers who donated $35 or more received a ticket to see the film in theaters, and that certainly played a role in its success this weekend.
Compared to another recent sequel to a cult-favorite male-driven comedy, Super Troopers 2 far outperformed the likes of Hot Tub Time Machine 2, which opened to just $5.9 million in February of 2015 on its way to a final gross of $12.3 million in North America. Though it was released over 16 years ago, the original Super Troopers clearly struck a chord with its core demo, evidence of which can be seen in the sequel’s impressive crowdfunding total. It’s worth noting that over half the film’s gross this weekend came on Friday, suggesting this one is massively frontloaded.
Down in ninth place was the weekend’s other wide opener Traffik, which took in an estimated $3.8 million on 1,046 screens, good for an okay per-theater average $3,704. The thriller from Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films comes with a reported budget of just $4 million, so this actually isn’t a terrible performance for the Paula Patton-Omar Epps flick. Codeblack Films is a Lionsgate subsidiary that produces films targeted to an African-American audience.
In its second weekend of play, Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare fell to fifth with $7.9 million, representing a 57 percent drop. That gives the Universal release a healthy $30.3 million after ten days, which can be considered a win given the film’s miniscule reported budget of $3.5 million (though marketing costs were no doubt steep when you consider how heavily this one was promoted). The drop here was similar to last year’s Blumhouse release Happy Death Day, which tumbled 64 percent in its sophomore frame and ultimately ended its run with $55.6 million. Truth or Dare won’t match that total and looks likely to finish in the $40-$45 million range.
Finishing in sixth place in weekend number four was Warner Bros.’ Ready Player One, which brought in an estimated $7.5 million for a total of $126.1 million thus far. The Steven Spielberg sci-fi has performed reasonably well in North America but has more than tripled its domestic take overseas. Its reported $175 million pricetag notwithstanding, this is by far Spielberg’s biggest worldwide hit since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull took in $786 million globally way back in 2008.
Easing just 35 percent in its third weekend, Universal’s Blockers brought in another $6.9 million in seventh place, bringing its total to $48.2 million after 17 days. That puts it 7 percent ahead of Game Night, which had brought in just over $45 million by the same point. The latter film has now grossed over $68 million Stateside, and at this pace Blockers should finish in similar territory when all is said and done. While that’s not an eye-popping result, at a reported budget of $21 million it’s still pretty solid.
Black Panther slipped two spots to No. 8 with $4.6 million in its tenth weekend, bringing its grand total to $681.1 million. This is the blockbuster MCU installment’s final week in theaters before the release of Avengers: Infinity War, in which viewers will get another chance to see T’Challa in action.
Rounding out the Top 10 is Isle of Dogs, which took in $3.4 million in its second weekend of wide release. The total for the Wes Anderson flick now stands at $24.3 million, which is an improvement on the director’s last animated effort Fantastic Mr. Fox, which completed its run with $21 million in North America. Though Fox Searchlight has kept Dogs‘ budget under wraps, the rather underwhelming total here again demonstrates the limits of Anderson’s quirky vision with mainstream audiences. The director’s highest-grossing film domestically is The Grand Budapest Hotel, which took in $59.3 million in 2014 (and also grossed a whopping $117 million overseas).
Limited Release:
Playing on just 305 screens, “Tollywood” import Bharat Ane Nenu grossed a very impressive $2.8 million over the weekend, giving it a per-screen average of $9,180. This one is from distributor Great India Films, which also released the hugely-successful Baahubali 2: The Conclusion last year in North America, where it added $20 million to its already-massive $121 million overseas gross.
Overseas Update:
Rampage continued to outperform its U.S. release internationally this weekend, bringing in another $57 million in 61 territories. That brings the tentpole’s total to $216.4 million overseas and a global total of $283 million, which includes a very good $106.6 million from the all-important Chinese marketplace.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, APR. 20 – SUN, APR. 22
# | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | A Quiet Place | $22,000,000 | -33% | 3,808 | 219 | $5,777 | $132,358,711 | 3 | Paramount |
2 | Rampage | $21,000,000 | -41% | 4,115 | 14 | $5,103 | $66,600,066 | 2 | Warner Bros |
3 | I Feel Pretty | $16,220,000 | — | 3,440 | — | $4,715 | $16,220,000 | 1 | STX Entertainment |
4 | Super Troopers 2 | $14,700,000 | — | 2,038 | — | $7,213 | $14,700,000 | 1 | 20th Century Fox |
5 | Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare | $7,910,000 | -58% | 3,068 | 39 | $2,578 | $30,385,415 | 2 | Universal |
6 | Ready Player One | $7,500,000 | -35% | 3,208 | -453 | $2,338 | $126,181,326 | 4 | Warner Bros. / DreamWorks |
7 | Blockers | $6,985,000 | -35% | 3,134 | -284 | $2,229 | $48,252,045 | 3 | Universal |
8 | Black Panther | $4,642,000 | -20% | 1,930 | -250 | $2,405 | $681,084,109 | 10 | Disney |
9 | Traffik | $3,875,000 | — | 1,046 | — | $3,705 | $3,875,000 | 1 | Lionsgate / Summit / Codeblack Films |
10 | Isle of Dogs | $3,400,000 | -38% | 1,947 | 8 | $1,746 | $24,360,538 | 5 | Fox Searchlight |
11 | I Can Only Imagine | $2,431,250 | -41% | 1,994 | -579 | $1,219 | $79,395,152 | 6 | Roadside Attractions |
12 | Chappaquiddick | $2,000,000 | -35% | 1,455 | -190 | $1,375 | $14,455,101 | 3 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
13 | Tyler Perry’s Acrimony | $2,000,000 | -45% | 1,148 | -184 | $1,742 | $41,014,883 | 4 | Lionsgate |
14 | Sherlock Gnomes | $1,400,000 | -42% | 1,459 | -657 | $960 | $39,551,456 | 5 | Paramount / MGM |
15 | The Miracle Season | $1,137,000 | -49% | 1,122 | -585 | $1,013 | $8,842,565 | 3 | LD Entertainment |
# | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bharat Ane Nenu | $2,850,000 | — | 305 | — | $9,344 | $2,850,000 | 1 | Great India Films |
2 | Beirut | $1,058,735 | -39% | 755 | 0 | $1,402 | $3,910,660 | 2 | Bleecker Street |
3 | A Wrinkle in Time | $682,000 | -51% | 665 | -447 | $1,026 | $93,668,619 | 7 | Walt Disney Pictures |
4 | Pacific Rim Uprising | $570,000 | -61% | 646 | -891 | $882 | $58,656,740 | 5 | Universal |
5 | Love, Simon | $500,000 | -53% | 491 | -398 | $1,018 | $40,212,402 | 6 | 20th Century Fox |
6 | The Death of Stalin | $340,216 | -29% | 210 | -120 | $1,620 | $6,862,918 | 7 | IFC Films |
7 | Paul, Apostle of Christ | $320,000 | -48% | 377 | -204 | $849 | $17,000,119 | 5 | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
8 | Peter Rabbit | $280,000 | -28% | 344 | -175 | $814 | $114,273,563 | 11 | Sony / Columbia |
9 | Finding Your Feet | $198,870 | -30% | 191 | -86 | $1,041 | $949,267 | 4 | Roadside Attractions |
10 | The Leisure Seeker | $184,333 | -33% | 183 | -93 | $1,007 | $2,710,970 | 7 | Sony Pictures Classics |
11 | The Greatest Showman | $145,000 | -36% | 169 | -40 | $858 | $173,520,696 | 18 | Fox |
12 | God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness | $67,000 | -46% | 111 | -82 | $604 | $5,557,090 | 4 | Pure Flix |
# | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Lean on Pete | $177,400 | 130% | 69 | 51 | $2,571 | $347,988 | 3 | A24 |
2 | Final Portrait | $78,433 | 97% | 9 | -23 | $8,715 | $299,812 | 5 | Sony Pictures Classics |
3 | The Rider | $78,433 | 86% | 9 | 6 | $8,715 | $142,768 | 2 | Sony Pictures Classics |
4 | The Strangers: Prey At Night | $65,000 | -28% | 90 | 29 | $722 | $24,317,307 | 7 | Aviron Pictures |
5 | Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami | $41,812 | -26% | 9 | 6 | $4,646 | $124,190 | 2 | Kino Lorber |
6 | Midnight Sun | $38,265 | -59% | 90 | -161 | $425 | $9,481,424 | 5 | Open Road |
7 | Itzhak | $28,710 | — | 33 | — | $870 | $332,572 | 7 | Greenwich Entertainment |
8 | Coco | $24,000 | -36% | 59 | -26 | $407 | $209,717,761 | 22 | Disney |
9 | Back to Burgundy | $15,905 | -35% | 16 | -2 | $994 | $163,138 | 5 | Music Box Films |
10 | Godard Mon Amour | $12,646 | — | 4 | — | $3,162 | $12,646 | 1 | Cohen Media Group |
11 | Ghost Stories | $12,563 | — | 1 | — | $12,563 | $12,563 | 1 | IFC Films / IFC Midnight |
12 | The Devil and Father Amorth | $10,851 | — | 8 | — | $1,356 | $10,851 | 1 | The Orchard |
13 | Lou Andreas-Salomé, the Audacity to be Free | $5,000 | — | 1 | — | $5,000 | $5,000 | 1 | Cinema Libre Studio |
14 | Outside In | $3,553 | -41% | 6 | 0 | $592 | $64,639 | 4 | The Orchard |
15 | Flower | $643 | -46% | 1 | -3 | $643 | $327,102 | 6 | The Orchard |
16 | The Young Karl Marx | $620 | -5% | 1 | -1 | $620 | $620 | 9 | The Orchard |
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