By Chris Kavan - 02/26/17 at 06:36 PM CT
It was a good week for horror - and for Blumhouse in particular as Get Out opened easily in first place while Split also continued its strong performance and it is now not only the studio's highest grossing domestic film, but its best international total as well. While Get Out enjoyed success, neither Rock Dog or Collide could find a place in the top 10. Otherwise, a few films topped some milestone marks and, of course, the Oscars are on tonight and we'll see if the big winners will enjoy an Oscar bump come next week.
1) GET OUT
The directorial debut of Jordan Peele had been gaining steam ever since its sneak Sundance premiere. Going in to the weekend, the racially-tinged horror/thriller enjoyed a rare 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (out of a whopping 134 reviews) and it culminated in an excellent first-place $30.5 million opening. The film, operating on a light budget of just $4.5 million, represents another great debut for Blumhouse following the excellent run of Split (more on that below). Get Out actually had a better multiplier than M. Night Shyamalan's twisted tale, and it could even give that film a run for its money. Audiences seemed just as happy as critics, awarding the film an "A-". African Americans made up 38% of that audience. That should mean the film will buck the trend of most horror films and hold up well in its second (and beyond) weeks with $75 million guaranteed. It is hard to say whether it can catch Split ($130 million and counting) but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets close.
2)
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
The two-week champ had to take a back seat but Lego Batman still managed a fine $19 million weekend (down about 42%), raising its total to $133 million. It's worldwide total stands at $220 million thus far. The $80 million picture is going to post a tidy profit, even if there is no way it's going to top the $257 million domestic and $469 million worldwide total of The Lego Movie. Still, for a spinoff movie this has to be seen as an excellent total - and even for a Batman movie it's doing pretty darn good. I think the Lego brand has a lot to offer, provided it keeps its silly nature intact.
3)
JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2
Rising back in to the third position after briefly losing that spot to The Great Wall, Keanu Reeves and his deadly persona brought in $19 million (down 44.5%) as Chapter 2 came in just shy of $75 million with a $74.4 million total. The $40 million sequel has also brought in $126 million worldwide. The film has a good shot of reaching $100 million in the U.S. and that would put it very close to doubling the original film's worldwide total of $86 million. The sequel has proven that John Wick is a new action icon and I have no problem with that as I look forward to seeing what trouble the "I just want a normal life" hitman will have to deal with next time.
4)
THE GREAT WALL
Swapping places, The Great Wall dropped to fourth in its second weekend (off 53%) with an $8.7 million effort. That means The Great Wall has only earned $34.4 million on the domestic front, but did cross the $300 million worldwide mark. Lucky the film enjoyed a robust $171 million Chinese run, as in order to make any money back on its $150 million budget, it's going to need a continued push on the international front as its domestic performance is likely to stall out around the $50 million mark. I have a feeling with Logan coming on, most of the action films are going to see a steep drop, which means there isn't a lot of hope for a Great Wall comeback.
5)
FIFTY SHADES DARKER
The big shakeup in the top five meant Fifty Shades Darker officially ended its Valentine's holiday push, taking a big 62% hit and dropping from second to fifth with $7.7 million. That is perfectly alright, however, as the naughty sequel crossed the $100 million mark with a new $103.6 million total, and it will soon double its $55 million budget on the domestic front. It also stands at an impressive $328 million worldwide and chances for that final film look bright indeed, even if I still think this entire series is some kind of cosmic joke played on the populace at large.
Outside the top five: Rock Dog, which flopped in China, didn't fare much better in the U.S. Falling just outside the top 10 in 11th place with $3.7 million, the animated film opened below Norm of the North ($6.7 million) and just over The Wild Life ($3.3 million). Fun fact: this $60 million animated film is the most expensive animated film to come out of China - where it only managed a paltry $5.7 million. Not sure why Lionsgate thought this would work out - but maybe they're just trying to play nice with China in hopes of something more lucrative down the line.
It was worse news for Collide. Like so many other films trying to drag themselves out of the Relativity morass, Collide was DOA with a terrible $1.53 million (13th place) debut. One would think this would have worked much better as a straight-to-video/streaming title, but perhaps Open Road was hoping that Felicity Jones would draw more of a crowd thanks to Rogue One. No, no she didn't and I'm sure Collide will slip out of theaters as quietly as it came in.
In milestone news Split, which already had the best domestic total for any Blumhouse title (at $130.8 million and counting) can now also boast the best international total for the studio with a new $221 million worldwide total - topping Paranormal Activity 3 ($207 million). It will be interesting to see how Get Out stacks up against it in the coming weeks.
Oscar hopeful Hidden Figures continued its run as the highest-grossing domestic best picture film, crossing the $150 million mark with a $5.87 million weekend (7th place) and new $152.8 million total.
Next week, Hugh Jackman gives his final performance as Wolverine in the critically-lauded Logan. We also get the Christian-themed The Shack along with the Groundhog Day-esque teen mystery/drama Before I Fall.
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