Weekend Box Office Report: "Zootopia" Keeps Tight Hold on #1, "10 Cloverfield Lane" Solid at #2.

Overall business was flat with this same weekend last year, when Cinderella opened at #1 with $67 million.


Keeping a strong hold on the top spot is Disney Animation's latest Zootopia, which had a very strong hold in its second frame. The critically-acclaimed flick was off a light 33% to $50 million, for a strong $142.6 million gross in 10 days. In comparison, Home, The Lorax and Frozen dropped between 40 and 50 percent in their second weekend. Big Hero 6 was down 37% while Wreck-it Ralph was off 32%. For a second weekend, Zootopia ranked only behind The Hunger Games and Alice in Wonderland for the month of March. No competition for families the remainder of March and most of April will only help Zootopia continue to play well in the coming weeks. Overseas, it had a huge weekend in China with another $56 million picked up and a $83 million weekend overall. It passed $400 million worldwide in just four weeks of worldwide play. With still Japan and the U.K. left to open, this now looks like it will finish with at least $700 million worldwide. Another major win for Disney Animation.

But it wasn't completely Zootopia's weekend. Producer J.J. Abrams (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and distributor Paramount earned a strong start for their buzzy thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane, which picked up $25.2 million, for a solid $7,431 per-venue average. Despite being scheduled relatively last-minute, the thriller earned lots of buzz for being somewhat related to the cult hit monster movie Cloverfield. Critics acclaimed the thriller (90% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences gave the flick a disappointing "B-" CinemaScore (another critics and audiences divide). In comparison to recent thriller/horror flicks, 10 Cloverfield Lane opened on par with The Visit ($25.4 million). On just a $13 million budget, this will wind up a strong success for distributor Paramount (who was hoping for $20 million). Little competition for its genre the rest of the month won't hurt either.






It was a very close race for third, but winding up with the edge was the edgy superhero movie Deadpool, which held very well in its fifth weekend. Off 35%, the Merc with a Mouth earned $10.8 million, for a huge $328.1 million gross in one month of release. Its also topped $700 million worldwide, the biggest movie of 2016 so far. A sequel is officially in development. Deadpool has one more weekend until Batman v Superman comes to town.

London Has Fallen was close behind with a 51% drop to $10.7 million, for a decent $38.9 million pick-up in 10 days. That's a slightly better hold than Olympus Has Fallen, which fell 53% to $14 million in its second weekend. No real competition next weekend should allow London to stabilize briefly before Batman v Superman comes into play on the 25th. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot followed in a distant fifth with a decent hold, off 38% to $4.6 million. Tina Fey and Margot Robbie have earned a still-disappointing $14.6 million in 10 days, and will likely wind up short of $25 million.

Opening in sixth place with a decent start was romantic comedy The Perfect Match. The under-the-radar flick earned $4.2 million, for an OK $4,486 per-venue average from just 925 locations. Distributor Lionsgate didn't exactly have a strong marketing effort, but a lack of real entertainment for the African-American crowd this year really helped it. Whether or not it will hold well remains to be seen, but reviews were fairly negative (31% on Rotten Tomatoes). No CinemaScore was issued. No official budget was released either.


Opening in seventh place with disappointing results was the Biblical drama The Young Messiah. Chronicling the life of Jesus as a boy, the Focus Features release earned $3.4 million, for a dismal $1,933 per-venue average from 1,761 locations. Expectations were for this to earn between $7 and $10 million. Messiah wasn't helped by an unexpectedly crowded timeframe for faith-based films (Risen is still playing, and Miracles from Heaven opens Wednesday), and despite strong endorsements from many Christian sites, there were quite a few discouraging remarks from some Christian reviewers as well. Reviews were fairly decent (63% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a solid "A-". This may remain in theaters through Easter, but its going to be hard for it to get past $10 million stateside. The budget on this one was $18.5 million.






Finally, The Brothers Grimsby failed to garner any attention in eighth place with $3.2 million, for an abysmal $1,409 per-venue average. The R-rated comedy marked a box office low for star Sacha Baron Cohen and came in well below expectations, which ranged from $7-10 million. Reviews were generally on the downside (37% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a "B+". This will likely fade fast.

Gods of Egypt fell another 52% in its third frame to $2.5 million, for a disappointing $27.3 million gross in 17 days. It did get off to a $20 million start in China, and has passed $100 million worldwide, but that's nowhere near a profitable sign for the expensive production. Risen rounded out the Top 10 in its fourth weekend with a decent hold in the face of The Young Messiah, off 42% to $2.3 million, for a decent $32.4 million gross in 24 days of release. Sony should be happy with a near-$40 million finish.

And that's about it. Next weekend, Shailene Woodley returns with The Divergent Series: Allegiant, and Jennifer Garner stars in the faith-based true story, Miracles from Heaven. Its sure to be an interesting weekend as Easter starts to approach. Stay tuned next weekend.