After five weekends on top, Marvel’s Black Panther was dethroned by Universal’s Pacific Rim Uprising which was the only of the new wide releases to do well.
The sequel apparently a few people were looking forward to, Pacific Rim Uprising, snatched the top spot this weekend with an estimated $28M from 3,708 theaters for a per screen average of $7,552. That’s down nearly 25% from the original’s opening of $37.3M back in the summer of 2013. That film faded fairly quickly ending up with only $101M domestically though it did make $309M internationally which may be the biggest reason why a sequel was greenlit. In fact its highest gross ended up coming from China where it made $112M. Speaking of which, internationally Uprising made $150M this weekend led by, of course, China with $65M. Critics were mixed while audiences gave the film a so-so B CinemaScore.
Slipping one spot to number two, Black Panther earned another $16.7M this weekend, according to estimates, bringing its cume to a remarkable $631M putting it solidly at #5 on the all-time domestic box office list and officially becoming the highest grossing superhero film ever. Next in its sights are Jurassic World ($652M) and Titanic ($659M). Worldwide T’Challa and company stand at $1.237B putting it at #12 all-time with studio stablemates Beauty and the Beast ($1.263B) and Frozen ($1.276B) next to fall.
In third place with the best hold in the top 10 was the Christian biopic I Can Only Imagine which added 624 screens and fell only 19% to an estimated $13.8M bringing its total to a heavenly $38M with the Easter holidays just around the corner. The movie could see a finale in the $75-80M range, tremendous for a film with a budget under $10M.
Opening poorly in fourth place was the animated Sherlock Gnomes which made an estimated $10.6M from 3,662 theaters for a per screen average of only $2,895. Critics savaged the film while audiences were a little kinder giving it a solid B+ CinemaScore.
In fifth place with the worst hold in the top 10 was the reboot of Tomb Raider which fell 56% to an estimated $10.4M bringing its total up to only $41.7M. A final number in the $60-65M range is likely for a film that had much higher expectations. Speaking of films with much higher expectations, Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time fell 50% in its third weekend to an estimated $8M bringing its cume up to $73.8M.
Love, Simon held on reasonably well in its second weekend slipping 34% to an estimated $7.8M, bringing its total up to $24M. Look for a final total of around $45-50M. Another religious-themed film debuted this weekend, this one to much poorer numbers than I Can Only Imagine as Paul, Apostle of Christ opened to an estimated $5M from 1,473 theaters for a per screen average of $3,394. Critics again were not kind as the film got half the positive reviews that I Can Only Imagine received. Game Night has been the little film that could with another strong hold falling only 25% in its fifth weekend to an estimated $4.2M bringing its total up to $61M.
A couple of new films debuted in 10th and 11th place this weekend. Bella Thorne’s romantic drama Midnight Sun opened with an estimated $4.1M from 2,173 theaters for a per screen average of $1,896, worst in the top 10. Critics disliked the film but audiences really enjoyed what they saw giving the film an A- CinemaScore but this is the kind of film that will get more traction being watched at home. Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane, which he shot using only an iPhone 7 Plus (!), debuted with an estimated $3.8M from 2,023 theaters for a per screen average of only $1,907. Reviews were mostly positive across the board but audiences only gave it a B- CinemaScore. And finally the highly anticipated animated film from Wes Anderson, Isle of Dogs, opened to an estimated $1.57M from only 27 screens for a per screen average of an amazing $58k.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $108.6M this weekend which was down 43% from last year when Beauty and the Beast remained at number one for a second straight weekend with $90.4M; and down 55% from 2016 when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened at number one with a massive $166M.
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