Weekend Box Office: Us Scares Up Plenty of Records in Impressive Opening

By Chris Kavan - 03/24/19 at 09:21 PM CT

Remember how I said Captain Marvel was going to top Us? Just pretend I never typed that out. Jordon Peele's original horror tale not only took first place, it wasn't even close. The doppelganger-filled tale broke a lot of records in the process and helped March top the same weekend in 2018 for the the third straight week. That means Hollywood has things back on track for 2019 and with films like Dumbo and Shazam! coming up, I think this winning streak will continue well into April and beyond. But let's focus on the now and count the many ways Us blew away even the most gracious of expectations.

1) US

I expected that Jordan Peele's followup to Get Out would open pretty good - but nothing like the $70.2 million it opened with. Where did it place on various lists? It is the third best opening for an R-rated horror film behind Halloween ($76.2 million) and It ($123 million), the largest opening of all time for an original R-rated film, topping Ted ($54.4 million) as well as the highest opening for an R-rated original horror film, topping A Quiet Place ($50.2 million). It ranks seventh all time among horror films in general (counting the Jurassic Park/World films - which I still count as dubious "horror" films) and second best for an original live-action film in general, behind only Avatar ($77 million). And, just for good measure, it opened over double of Peele's Get Out ($33.3 million). While the Cinemascore for Us was below Get Out - a "B" as opposed to an "A-", that is still a great score for a horror film in general. The audience was split evenly between men and women with 53% coming in 25 or older. Predicting the total for Us is a bit difficult at this point. It isn't likely to hold as well as Get Out, though it should be able to hold better than Halloween - thus $200 million plus total is likely. Considering it has already tripled its budget in its opening weekend, whatever total it winds up with is going to be a huge win for Universal and pretty much solidifies Peele's status as a director of note.

2) CAPTAIN MARVEL

Even with Us having a dominating performance, Captain Marvel didn't let up too much, dipping 48.5% and bringing in $35 million, giving the MCU film a new $321.5 million total. Captain Marvel jumped over Iron Man 2 ($312 million), Thor: Ragnarok ($315 million) and the original Iron Man ($318 million) to now rank 10th among all MCU films. It also landed just outside the top 20 among all superhero films in general. It still has a good shot at topping $400 million domestic, though it does face serious competition from Dumbo and especially Shazam! in the coming weeks. With a $52.1 million international performance, it raised its worldwide total to $910.3 million and should be able to join the $1 billion club by next week (or shortly after), making it the seventh film in the MCU to do so. That also puts it ahead of the likes of Spider-Man 3 ($890 million), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($869 million), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($881 million) and Batman v Superman ($873 million) on the global level.


3) WONDER PARK

After a rather disappointing opening, Wonder Park dipped 43.2% in its second weekend, bringing in just $9 million for a $29.4 million total. If Paramount was hoping this would allow them to compete with the likes of Disney or Illumination, they were sorely mistaken, as it is looking increasingly likely it will finish well short of $50 million. It's also not going to be able to rely on the international community, as it has brought in a paltry $10.2 million overseas. I expect this to drop like a boulder when Dumbo hits next week and dominates the family crowd, so if you really want to see this one, better make it quick.






4) FIVE FEET APART

Dropping one spot as well, taking a 33.7% hit, the teenage cystic fibrosis romance tale added $8.75 million to its total, which now stands at $26.4 million. This one is holding pretty well considering the competition and will likely top $40 million - and pass Wonder Park in the process. That may not seem like much, but considering Wonder Park cost roughly $100 million while Five Feet Apart only cost $7 million, you can piece together who the winner is going to be in the end. It also earned a tidy $6.2 million as it expanded into 34 markets overseas. Just some icing on the cake for a film that should have no issue turning a profit.





5) HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD

Rounding out the top, the animated sequel dipped just under 30%, adding $6.5 million and raising its total to $145.7 million. It will cross $150 million by next weekend. It is also approaching a milestone worldwide, with $488 million and counting, as it should also hit $500 million (passing How to Train Your Dragon in the process) by next weekend as well. It's not going to catch the $612.5 million of the second film, but it really doesn't have to as it has already proven a solid franchise and a worthy third entry in the series.





Outside the top five: Gloria Bell expanded wide (sorry I missed it in the roundup) adding 615 theaters and landing in 7th place (up from 18th place) with $1.8 million (up nearly 395%) for a new $2.5 million total.

Limited release champ of the weekend was Hotel Mumbai with a $86,492 from four theaters and a $21,623 per-theater average. This one is likely to expand as well.

Next week brings three new releases, Disney's Dumbo is likely to have the biggest impact while you also have Harmony Korine's Beach Bum and the conservative-bent Unplanned.

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