As what many expected, Dwayne Johnson topped the box office once again with his latest action flick, Rampage. The video game adaptation earned middling results (and matched my prediction) with $34.5 million (decent $8,413 per-venue average). For Johnson, this isn't his best debut. It's a little ahead of Journey 2, but well short of San Andreas ($54.5 million) and the extended weekend start of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (which ended its run above $400 million stateside, and became Sony's biggest movie in company history unadjusted). The good news is the movie's fortunes got better as the weekend progressed (it spiked in business on Saturday). The bad news is on a $120 million budget not including a hefty marketing spend (and with Avengers: Infinity War debuting in T-minus 11 days), its' not in a good financial position right now. But Warner Bros. will make do with this, as it proves Johnson can take any film to #1 at this time.Overseas, Rampage fared better with a $115 million overseas launch, including a $55 million debut in China, distributor Warner Bros.' second-largest opening in that country (behind Ready Player One). The big question is how it will fare the next few weeks as Avengers will too arrive overseas in the next two weeks. I could reasonably see it reaching over $300 million worldwide. Whether or not that will be enough for profit is currently up in the air. Reviews were mixed (50% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a solid "A-".
After topping the box office last weekend, A Quiet Place came in a very close second and continued to wow analysts. The thriller sensation was off only 35% in its second weekend in the face of new competition, earning $32.6 million. Considering horror flicks tend to drop over 50%, that is a spectacular hold for the genre. In 10 days, Quiet has managed a fantastic $99.6 million. That looks even more impressive in the face of just a $17 million production budget. Director/actor John Krasinski has already been snapped up for another project, and its' easy to see why.
The debut of another PG-13 action flick (from the same studio) wound up hurting Ready Player One. The book adaptation was down 55% in its third go-round to $11.2 million, for an OK $114.6 million pick-up in 17 days. The well-reviewed film will have one more week to hold strong until Avengers comes around to steal everyone's audience. At this point, I'm guesstimating a finish close to $140 million, not quite enough to justify its $175 million price tag. The good news, however, is that it is doing spectacular business in China, with the gross there set to finish well above $200 million. Worldwide, its' getting close to the $500 million milestone.
Following its solid debut last week, Blockers was off an alarming 50% in its' sophomore frame to $10.3 million. With $36.9 million in 10 days, its on track for a finish above $50 million. That's not a great result, but far from a disappointment also. After eight-straight weeks in the Top 5, Black Panther fell 39% to $5.3 million. However, King T'Challa continues to climb with a sensational $673.8 million gross since its debut 63 days ago. It ranks as the third-biggest movie ever in history stateside, unadjusted for inflation. It won't reach $700 million, but I don't think Disney cares anymore about that.
Expanding to nationwide release with middling results was Isle of Dogs. The Wes Anderson animated epic pulled in $5 million, up a modest 6% from its numbers in 500 locations last week (its playing in 1,900 locations now). Since its limited start 24 days ago, the critically-adored flick has earned $18.5 million with still some gas left in the tank.
I Can Only Imagine is starting to fade, but that doesn't lessen its success. The faith-based hit fell 51% in its fifth weekend to $3.8 million. But, the fact is, it was projected to have around that number in its first weekend. And with a sensational $75 million in one month of release, its' earned about 11 times its $7 million production budget. Imagine looks set to close at around $85 million, just shy of Heaven is for Real's $91 million finish.
Acrimony followed with a 56% decline (not unusual for Tyler Perry's films) to $3.7 million, for a decent $37.8 million gross in 17 days, with not much left. Rounding out the Top 10 was Chappaquiddick, which didn't have the older audience pull as I was thinking it would. The historical drama fell 48% to $3 million, for a dismal $11 million gross in 10 days, on its way to just over $15 million. Its' performed better than expected, but its still no success story.
That's about it. Next weekend, the calm before the Avengers storm brings the debut of Amy Schumer's I Feel Pretty, as well as the comedy sequel Super Troopers 2. It should be a fairly quiet weekend as most holdovers look to hold strong before the Marvel juggernaut debuts (possibly to all-time record numbers at this point). Look out for my review of Pacific Rim: Uprising on Tuesday and then the weekend predictions post on Wednesday. :)
