By Chris Kavan - 03/05/17 at 09:13 PM CT
It was a March weekend for the record books as Logan performed outstanding, Get Out held on incredibly well and The Shack opened to respectable numbers. The only disappointment was Before I Fall but was somewhat mitigated by the resurgence of Moonlight following its Oscar win for best picture. In any case, it was a an excellent weekend and should bode well for the weekends ahead, which feature some big films that could make this a March for the record books as well.
1) LOGAN
If Deadpool proved there was a place for R-rated comedic superhero films, Logan proves the same point with drama. With an impressive $85.3 million debut (that could easily rise higher come Monday), Logan is the highest-grossing R-rated film to debut in March as well as the highest-grossing R-rated movie opening on a regular Friday-Sunday frame without the benefit of an extended holiday weekend. It's $10.1 million from IMAX is the best showing for any R-rated March film and the second best R-rated total on record (behind Deadpool). It also had the second-best foreign R-rated IMAX opening with $10.6 million - once again, only behind Deadpool. Its estimated $152 million foreign gross puts the worldwide total for Logan at $237.8 million, well ahead of its $100 million budget. In terms of all R-rated films, it landed fifth on the list, and among X-Men films, it also ranks fifth, though it may ultimately top X2, X-Men United ($85.5 million) by Monday. In any case, it did top both the totals for The Wolverine ($85 million) and X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($53 million). The film earned great critical and audience reception and it bodes well for the long-term prospects. If it can't hold up against Beauty and the Beast or Kong: Skull Island, it will wind up with
only $180 million. But considering the response, it will likely top $200 million and could easily wind up above the $225 million mark. No matter how you slice it, Logan is a success and Hugh Jackman couldn't have hoped for a better ending for his iconic character.
2)
GET OUT
Jordan Peele's racially-charged thriller had a magnificent second-week hold, dipping a mere 22% for a $26.11 million weekeend and a new $76 million total. That was an even better hold than M. Night Shyamalan's Split, and a better second-week total as well. It marks the second huge hit for Blumhouse, and, ultimately, Get Out could even top Split (currently sitting at $134 million). It's already the seventh-best total for Blumhouse and it all but guaranteed to at least rise the second, as it should have no trouble topping the $107 million of Paranormal Activity. The only question is whether Get Out or Split is going to wear the crown. The $5 million film is going to wind up as one of the best stories for 2017 and proves that if you create a film for an under-served audience that is both timely and significant - well, that's a recipe for success right there and Get Out proves it.
3)
THE SHACK
Speaking of divine debuts, while The Shack didn't open nearly has high as Logan, it was still an impressive opening. The faith-based drama opened with $16.1 million - which represents the seventh-best opening in the Christian genre. That is including the likes of Passion of the Christ, Noah and The Chronicles of Narnia - if you remove those blockbuster type films, really The Shack comes in second, behind just Heaven is for Real ($22 million). Starring some bigger-than-average names for a film in this genre - including Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer, the $20 million film is going to have no problem turning a profit. And while critics weren't impressed (earning just 15% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave the film an "A" - not surprising as faith-based films often score very high with their target audiences. Even if The Shack burned off a lot of its demand in its opening weekend, it should still wind up easily in the black and one of the highest-grossing films in this genre.
4)
THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE
The animated hit dipped a bit over 39% in its fourth weekend out, adding $11.65 million to its total, which just sits under $150 million with $148.6 million. While it didn't make any waves in China (a mere $3.6 million), its worldwide total is still at an impressive $256.83 million. For an $80 million Lego spinoff, I would say that is still a great total and it should be able to leg its way to a $175 million domestic total, depending on how much Beauty and the Beast eats in to its audience.
5)
BEFORE I FALL
Rounding out the top five, the YA Groundhog Day meets mystery earned just $4.95 million, despite generally positive reviews. Luckily the film carries just a $5 million budget, but the Zoey Deutch-led film had hoped to do better. It earned a decidedly average "B" Cinemsascore, though it did earn more on Sunday compared to Saturday suggesting word-of-mouth may still help it to a decent if not spectacular outcome. About $12 million is the best-case scenario at this point. It turns out equaling the impressive performance as The Fault in Our Stars is a lot harder than one would think, as recent YA romance and drama films (or in this case mystery) have fallen a bit flat.
Outside the top five: Moonlight was the (eventual) winner of the Best Picture at the Oscars and it capitalized on that win with a 979 theater expansion (1564 theaters total) and a 259.7% increase, falling just outside the top 10 with a $2.53 million weekend, raising its total to $25.3 million. That represents the best three-day weekend for the film yet - and comes even as Moonlight is already available for home viewing. Not only that, but it will soon surpass Ex Machina ($25.44 million) to become the highest-grossing movie yet for A24.
Technically Table 19, and ensemble comedy led by Anna Kendrick, Craig Robinson, Lisa Kudrow, Tony Revolori, Margo Martindale, Stephen Merchant and June Squibb also went wide as opposed to limited release (in 868) but its resulting $1.575 million weekend (17th place) and $1,815 per-theater average means this one won't likely be sticking around for many weekends to come.
Next week brings us just one new wide-release film, but it is a monster - literally, as the buzzed-about Kong: Skull Island looks to have a monstrous opening to rival Logan. We'll see if the sharp-clawed mutant can hold is own against the big ape.
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