Weekend Box Office: Black Panther Mauls Newcomers

Source: Business Insider

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther took centre stage with another $66.31m (-40.6%) under its belt. That’s the third-highest third weekend in cinematic history, just behind Fox’s Avatar ($68.49m) and Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($90.24m), and those had the benefit of the holiday season. Oh, and the movie crossed the impressive $500m milestone, with a domestic cume of $501.71m to date. It’s the third-quickest movie to cross the $500m mark (17 days), a day behind Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Thus far, Black Panther is pacing +8.8% ahead of Disney/Marvel’s The Avengers at the same point in release, pointing towards a $678m final haul, good for third-highest domestic earner ever, behind Avatar ($760.51m) and The Force Awakens ($936.66m).

Internationally, Black Panther pounced to $56.2m from 56 markets for a $398.23m haul. Global is $899.94m with $1 billion well within reach. Panther is currently playing +8% ahead of the last Marvel film, Thor: Ragnarok, which tallied $538.83m overseas. Top plays for Black Panther are the U.K. ($49.1m), South Korea ($41.4m), Brazil ($24.9m), Australia ($22.3m), and Mexico ($22m). Next weekend sees the film’s China release, where it’s expected to open around $60m.

RED SPARROW
© 20th Century Fox

Debuting in second, Fox’s Jennifer Lawrence spy thriller Red Sparrow was lukewarm at best, taking $16.85m from 3,056 hubs. This marks the second consecutive box office disappointment for Lawrence, following last September’s Darren Aronofsky flub mother! ($7.53m debut/$17.8m total). Among comparable movies, Sparrow’s debut ranks -7.9% behind Focus’ Atomic Blonde ($18.29m). Maintaining that pace (2.83x multiple) gives a $47.6m total for Red Sparrow, not terrific given the movie’s $69m production cost.

Overseas, Red Sparrow grossed $26.56m from 65 markets for a decent $43.42m global debut. Top debuts for the Francis Lawrence-directed film are Germany ($2.6m), the U.K. ($2.58m), Taiwan ($2.4m), Australia ($2.1m), and Spain ($2m). Release in further major markets will roll out through May.

Death Wish
© Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures

In third, Eli Roth’s Bruce Willis actioner Death Wish, marking MGM’s distribution comeback, opened to $13.01m from 2,847 venues. That’s admittedly not terrible for the $30m remake, though by no means is it a breakout film. Death Wish’s haul marks Bruce Willis’ highest debut since 2013’s Red 2 ($18.05m) and Eli Roth’s highest debut as director since 2006’s Hostel ($19.56m). Death Wish is -0.8% behind last year’s Jackie Chan flick The Foreigner ($13.11m debut) and ought to come close to that film’s $34.39m haul. Perhaps exceeding it, considering the critic-audience gap for this one.

There are no international numbers to report for Death Wish.

© Warner Bros. Pictures

Taking fourth, Warner’s Game Night held reasonably well, adding $10.41m (-38.8%) in its sophomore frame for a $33.24m haul. Game Night is +4.8% ahead of Paramount’s Office Christmas Party at the same point in release and -7.4% behind Warner’s Horrible Bosses 2, suggesting a final tally around $55m-$60m. Not bad for the $37m comedy.

Game Night won $8.7m from 46 overseas markets, notching international and global totals of $16.3m and $49.54m, respectively. Top territories are Australia ($3m), Russia ($2.1m), the U.K. ($1.5m), the Netherlands ($1.4m), and Germany ($1.2m).

© Sony Pictures

Rounding out the top five, Sony’s animation-live action hybrid Peter Rabbit hopped to $10.01m (-21.6%) in its fourth frame. Domestic haul is $84.07m, thanks to impressive holds, and should eclipse the $100m mark rather soon. Peter Rabbit is pacing +32.1% ahead of 2015’s Paddington at the same point in release.

Internationally, Rabbit grossed $14.3m from 12 markets for a $17.96m overseas tally. Global is $102.03m on the $50m flick. The bulk of this frame’s international cash comes from China, where Peter Rabbit earned $12.7m, healthy numbers for a family movie.

 

HOLDOVERS

© Paramount Pictures

6. Annihilation (Paramount) – $5.61 million (-49.3%), $20.59m cume
7. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Sony) – $4.44 million (-21.5%), $393.14m cume
8. Fifty Shades Freed (Universal) – $3.4 million (-52.4%), $95.69m cume
9. The Greatest Showman (Fox) – $2.7 million (-20.8%), $164.64m cume
10. Every Day (Orion) – $1.54 million (-48.9%), $5.24m cume


Thanks for reading! Catch our box office predictions later this week for Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, STX’s Gringo, Entertainment’s The Hurricane Heist, and Aviron’s The Strangers: Prey at Night.

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