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 "The Lego Batman Movie" bested "Fifty Shades Darker" at the
multiplexes over the weekend, earning a robust $55.6 million to
capture first place. "Fifty Shades Darker," the sequel to 2015's
"Fifty Shades of Grey," couldn't quite match its predecessor's
$85.2 million launch. It had to settle for a still sizable $46.8
million debut and second place on the box office chart.
Not to be outdone, Lionsgate's "John Wick: Chapter 2," a
followup to 2015's "John Wick," picked up a smashing $30
million. That's more than double what the first film racked up
during its debut. The headlines will inevitably be about "Fifty
Shades Darker" and "The Lego Batman Movie," but the "John Wick"
follow-up's numbers are more impressive. It grew its audience
substantially, adding more female viewers to the mix. Like
"Pitch Perfect" and "Austin Powers," both of which saw a major
increase in ticket sales between their first and second
installment, "John Wick" has now made a case for itself as a
certifiable franchise.
"The first 'John Wick' came out of nowhere theatrically and we
know from the home entertainment team it way over indexed the
norm," said David Spitz, Lionsgate's distribution chief.
"Consumers loved everything about the world of John Wick."
The three new releases succeeded by appealing to different
demographics and age groups -- kids went to the new Lego movie,
women were titillated by Christian Grey's red room, and men
looked on as Keanu Reeve's assassin made quick work of his foes.
Heading into the weekend, stateside ticket sales were lagging
behind last year's numbers, down nearly 3% from 2016. Studio
executives and exhibition industry insiders hope that this
weekend will help reinvigorate interest in moviegoing, a
comeback that will be aided by the upcoming release of "Logan,"
a new Wolverine movie, and a live-action version of "Beauty and
the Beast."
Warner Bros. backed "The Lego Batman Movie" and sees the
animated films built around the line of Danish toys as being key
to its corporate future. The studio is leaning heavily on a
slate of animated Lego films, DC Comics adventures, and
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," a Harry Potter
spinoff, to help it compete with Disney. That studio has
popularized the concept of branded movies, with its arsenal of
Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar films. "The Lego Batman Movie" cost
$80 million to make, which is downright affordable at a time
when many animated films carry budgets that are more than $200
million. It pits Batman against the Joker, and boasts a voice
cast that includes Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera,
Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes. The series kicked off with
2014's "The Lego Movie," which made $469.2 million globally.
Next September brings another spin-off, "The Lego Ninjago
Movie," a martial arts adventure with the voice of Jackie Chan.
"Brick by brick, 'The Lego Movie' launched related stories,"
said Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. president of domestic
distribution. "This was just a fun and cool story."
"The Lego Batman Movie" now as the biggest opening of any 2017
release, but it did fall short of projections. Some analysts had
predicted the family film would make more than $60 million.
"Fifty Shades Darker" is a Universal release. The studio didn't
give a budget for the film (as is its wont these days), but
knowledgeable estimates put its cost in the range of $55
million. The sequel may have lost some of the audience who saw
the first film to see just how much riding crop would make its
way to screens, but there are other reasons it couldn't equal
the reception of "Fifty Shades of Grey." That movie benefited
from being released over the President's Day holiday, a period
that also coincided with Valentine's Day, making it the date
night movie dujour.
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Nick Carpou, Universal's domestic distribution chief, said that he
expects that the film will show more endurance than its predecessor.
Valentine's Day takes place on Tuesday, and audiences are rating the
sequel better than the original, giving it a B+ CinemaScore, as
opposed to the C+ that "Fifty Shades of Grey" received. Critics, for
their part, hated it, but they didn't care for the first movie, nor
the book on which it is based.
"The interest in it will spread out more," predicted Carpou. "With
next weekend being a holiday, it gives us a chance to have repeat
business."
Universal's "Split" surrendered the first place it had occupied for
three consecutive weekends to the barrage of newcomers. The hit
thriller took in $9.3 million to capture fourth place on the chart,
while pushing its domestic haul to $112.3 million.
Fox's "Hidden Figures" rounded out the top five, earning $8 million.
The Oscar-nominated drama about African-American NASA employees
fighting racial prejudice in the early days of the space program has
made $131.4 million stateside.
In milestone news, Universal and Illumination's "Sing" topped $500
million globally. The animated film about a talent competition has
launched a new animated franchise for the studios.
On the indie front, Fox Searchlight's "A United Kingdom" opened in
four theaters, grossing $70,000 for a per-screen average of $17,500.
The drama chronicles a love affair between the King Seretse Khama of
Botswana (David Oyelowo) and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), a white
woman from London, and the controversy it sparked.
The Weinstein Company's "Lion" continued to chug along in its
twelfth weekend, seeing its numbers rise even as it lost 68 screens.
The drama about a man who uses Google Earth to find his long lost
family in India grossed $4.1 million to push its domestic returns
above $30 million. David Glasser, the company's COO, argued that the
story, which touches on immigration, has struck a nerve in a
political climate dominated by talk of travel bans from certain
countries. India is not one of the country's targeted by the Trump
administration, but "Lion" star Sunny Pawar, a native of the
country, did have trouble getting permission to enter the U.S. for
the film's premiere.
"This is a zeitgeist movie," he said. "As people discover it, you
wouldn't believe the emails that are pouring in. Every day we wake
up to notes from politicians, tennis players, even a woman I know
from Middle America all saying this couldn't be more timely."
Overall ticket sales did slide, and were unable to match the
year-ago period, a weekend that saw the $132.4 million debut of "Deadpool."
Still, analysts note that weekend was President's Day, a holiday
that's been pushed back by a week in 2017, making comparisons
difficult. Some box office sages predicted that this will be the
start of a torrid run at the multiplexes, one that will ultimately
eclipse the high-water mark established last year.
"This is the true kickoff of what could be the biggest year ever,"
said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore. "This
weekend is the star of our record run."
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