Weekend Box Office (April 13 - 15, 2018)
THIS WEEKEND Action king Dwayne Johnson anchored yet another number one hit with his latest offering Rampage which debuted in the top spot at the North American box office with an estimated $34.5M. The Warner Bros. pic was based on the videogame of the same name and averaged a strong $8,413 from 4,101 locations.
Fans ignored the mixed reviews and came out for the escapist, some would call mindless, entertainment. Starpower certainly was a big factor for the PG-13 film as The Rock is coming off of the runaway success of Jumanji which shocked the industry grossing over $950M to date. Rampage's healthy Saturday bump beat out other recent action titles from this spring indicating good word of mouth and kid appeal. The CinemaScore was an A- and the audience breakdown was 55% male and 63% over 25. Johnson has proven that he is part of that increasingly rare breed - a bankable Hollywood star who can open all different films, sequels and non-sequels alike.
Overseas markets were red hot with Rampage taking in an estimated $114.1M from 61 territories this weekend led by China's $55M opening weekend. Worldwide, Rampage is at $148.6M with France, Germany and Japan to open next month.
Knocked out of the top spot, but showing terrific legs for a scary movie, was the fright sensation A Quiet Place which is quickly becoming one of the highest grossing horror movies of all time. The Paramount hit took in an estimated $32.6M and declined by only 35% in its second weekend. Cume is a stellar $99.6M with the R-rated pic set to break $100M after only 11 days. That beats out most every horror movie hit including Get Out and The Conjuring which both needed 16 days, Split which did it in 19 days, and Paranormal Activity 3's 23 days. The $17M production might end its domestic run with a gross that is nine or ten times its budget.
Blumhouse used Friday the 13th to launch yet another low budget horror hit with Truth or Dare opening to a strong $19.1M this weekend according to estimates. The PG-13 chiller averaged a solid $6,299 from 3,029 and skewed to a younger female crowd. Universal data showed that the audience was 60% female, 60% under 25, and 56% non-white. The performance was especially impressive given the competition from Quiet Place.
Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One became the second highest grossing domestic film of the year adding an estimated $11.2M to its tally which has now risen to $114.6M. The Warner Bros. film dropped 55% in North America, but global sales are hot with international markets having grossed $360.2M, led by China's mammoth $192.8M, for a worldwide sum of $474.8M. The $170M-budgeted sci-fi pic looks headed for a final global gross of about $600M.
Falling 50% in its sophomore frame was the R-rated comedy Blockers which collected an estimated $10.3M for Universal which has banked $36.9M to date. After an impressive eight-week run in the top five, Black Panther took sixth place this weekend with an estimated $5.3M declining by 39%. Disney and Marvel upped the domestic cume to $673.8M. The overseas total rose to $639.7M surpassing The Dark Knight Rises with the worldwide gross now $1.31 billion. Box office king T'Challa will attempt to pull double duty in the top ten when Avengers: Infinity War opens in two weeks.
Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs climbed up 10% to an estimated $5M with another expansion and raised its total to $18.5M for Fox Searchlight. The faith-based hit I Can Only Imagine followed with an estimated $3.8M, down 51%, for a robust cume of $75M.
Tyler Perry's Acrimony dropped 56% to an estimated $3.7M and has given Lionsgate $37.9M so far. The Kennedy story Chappaquiddick came in with an estimated $3M falling 48% putting the cume at $11M.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $128.5M this weekend which was down 18% from last year when The Fate of the Furious opened at number one with $98.8M; and down 22% from 2016 when The Jungle Book debuted in the top spot with $103.3M.
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Watch the trailer for Deadpool 2.
Compared to projections, Rampage was on target with my $34M forecast while Truth or Dare doubled my $9M prediction.
Be sure to check back on Thursday for a complete summary, including projections, for next weekend when I Feel Pretty and Super Troopers 2 both open.
| # | Title | Apr 13 - 15 | Apr 6 - 8 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | Distributor |
| 1 | Rampage | $ 35,753,093 | 4,101 | 1 | $ 8,718 | $ 35,753,093 | Warner Bros. | ||
| 2 | A Quiet Place | 32,970,049 | 50,203,562 | -34.3 | 3,589 | 2 | 9,186 | 100,005,934 | Paramount |
| 3 | Truth or Dare | 18,667,855 | 3,029 | 1 | 6,163 | 18,667,855 | Universal | ||
| 4 | Ready Player One | 11,519,388 | 24,624,178 | -53.2 | 3,661 | 3 | 3,147 | 114,922,186 | Warner Bros. |
| 5 | Blockers | 10,770,310 | 20,556,350 | -47.6 | 3,418 | 2 | 3,151 | 37,403,980 | Universal |
| 6 | Black Panther | 5,777,896 | 8,704,968 | -33.6 | 2,180 | 9 | 2,650 | 674,233,418 | Disney |
| 7 | Isle of Dogs | 5,475,139 | 4,562,854 | 20.0 | 1,939 | 4 | 2,824 | 18,926,003 | Fox Searchlight |
| 8 | I Can Only Imagine | 4,141,834 | 7,801,111 | -46.9 | 2,573 | 5 | 1,610 | 75,293,399 | Roadside Attr. |
| 9 | Acrimony | 3,652,698 | 8,380,983 | -56.4 | 1,332 | 3 | 2,742 | 37,828,175 | Lionsgate |
| 10 | Chappaquiddick | 3,059,561 | 5,765,854 | -46.9 | 1,645 | 2 | 1,860 | 11,040,943 | Ent. Studios |
| 11 | Sherlock Gnomes | 2,404,661 | 5,436,068 | -55.8 | 2,116 | 4 | 1,136 | 37,228,148 | Paramount |
| 12 | The Miracle Season | 2,213,207 | 3,950,652 | -44.0 | 1,707 | 2 | 1,297 | 7,042,043 | LD |
| 13 | Beirut | 1,734,497 | 755 | 1 | 2,297 | 2,107,195 | Bleecker St. | ||
| 14 | Pacific Rim Uprising | 1,451,540 | 4,824,245 | -69.9 | 1,537 | 4 | 944 | 57,605,675 | Universal |
| 15 | A Wrinkle in Time | 1,380,257 | 3,301,707 | -58.2 | 1,112 | 6 | 1,241 | 92,476,477 | Disney |
| 16 | Sgt. Stubby | 1,300,000 | 1,658 | 1 | 784 | 1,300,000 | Fun Academy | ||
| 17 | Love, Simon | 1,060,295 | 2,767,003 | -61.7 | 889 | 5 | 1,193 | 39,329,296 | Fox |
| 18 | Paul, Apostle of Christ | 611,693 | 1,772,226 | -65.5 | 581 | 4 | 1,053 | 16,394,992 | Sony |
| 19 | The Death of Stalin | 480,000 | 987,222 | -51.4 | 330 | 6 | 1,455 | 6,317,000 | IFC |
| 20 | Tomb Raider | 460,619 | 1,926,315 | -76.1 | 502 | 5 | 918 | 56,227,188 | Warner Bros. |
| Top 5 | $ 109,680,695 | $ 112,470,041 | -2.5 | ||||||
| Top 10 | 131,787,823 | 140,860,173 | -6.4 | ||||||
| Top 20 | 144,884,592 | 159,227,484 | -9.0 | ||||||
| Top 20 vs. 2017 | 144,884,592 | 166,113,753 | -12.8 |
This column is updated three times each week: Thursday (upcoming weekend's summary), Sunday (post-weekend analysis with estimates), and Monday night (actuals). Opinions expressed in this column are those solely of the author.
Last Updated: April 15, 2018 at 12:50PM ET
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