It had to happen eventually. ‘Black Panther’ has finally stepped down from the #1 spot at the box office. Then again, it is in its sixth weekend and has now out-performed ‘Avengers’, making it Marvel’s highest-grossing film. It also ranks as the fifth highest-grossing movie of all time, trailing just behind ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’, ‘Avatar’, ‘Titanic’ and ‘Jurassic World’. ‘Black Panther’ is still in wide release, though, so it could continue to climb higher up the ladder.
Taking the top spot this weekend was ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’. The Jaegers vs. monsters sequel took in a decent, but not earth-shattering $28 million domestic and $122.5M overseas. China accounted for 53% of its foreign gross. It was only projected to open in the high teens-low twenties in the U.S. However, it’s expected that the bulk of revenue from this movie will come from foreign markets. Reviews were weak– it has a 45% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were kinder. Its PosTrak score was 78% and its CinemaScore was a “B.”
‘Sherlock Gnomes’ took in $10.6M, which is fairly lackluster for a family animated picture. It only managed to come in at #4, behind ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, ‘Black Panther’ and Christian drama ‘I Can Only Imagine’. Speaking of ‘I Can Only Imagine’, it managed to steal the thunder of another low-budget Christian drama ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ which flopped, making only $5M and coming in at #8.
Last week’s #2 movie, ‘Tomb Raider’ is a certified flop in the U.S. It’s still in the Top Five, but only managed to take in an additional $10.4M this weekend. Like ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’, ‘Tomb Raider’ is going to have to depend on foreign dollars.
Here is the Top Five:
- Pacific Rim: Uprising (Universal/Legendary) – $28M
- Black Panther (Disney) – $16.7M
- I Can Only Imagine (Roadside Attractions) – $13.8M
- Sherlock Gnomes (Paramount/MGM) – $10.6M
- Tomb Raider (Warner Brothers/MGM) – $10.4M
Next weekend should belong to ‘Ready Player One’, Steven Spielberg’s splashy adaptation of Ernest Cline’s pop culture-drenched sci-fi novel. Tyler Perry has a new thriller opening– ‘Acrimony’ starring Taraji P. Henson. This should serve as counter-programming to the big budget action flicks by appealing to African American women, in particular. Also fitting into the counter-programming category is ‘God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness’, which could appeal to church-goers. But as we saw this weekend, that crowd is turning out for ‘I Can Only Imagine’, which resulted in ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ flopping. If it’s still going strong next week, that could doom ‘God’s Not Dead’.
Check back to see how things work out!
