|
 "Split," starring James McAvoy as a man with 24 different
personalities, performed far above recent expectations for
Universal and Blumhouse. It easily topped the 2015 launch of
Shyamalan's found-footage horror movie "The Visit," which scored
an opening weekend of $25.4 million.
"Split" doubled Vin Diesel's launch of "xXx: Return of Xander
Cage," which is heading for a second-place finish for Paramount
with $20 million at 3,651 sites -- in line with recent
forecasts. Fox's historical drama "Hidden Figures" maintained
its impressive performance in third with $16.3 million at 3,416
theaters for a domestic total of $84.2 million.
Michael Keaton's biopic "The Founder" showed little traction for
the Weinstein Company with a modest $3.8 million weekend at
1,115 locations.
Shyamalan produced and directed "Split" from his own script in
which McAvoy's multiple characters capture three young women and
hold them hostage. The movie, which costs under $10 million,
generated the fourth-highest opening for a Shyamalan title
following "Signs" with $60 million, "The Village" with $50.7
million, and "The Last Airbender" with $40.3 million.
"Split" carries a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with McAvoy's
performance receiving strong reviews. Shyamalan is
self-financing the project and re-teamed with horror specialist
Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions after collaborating on
"The Visit," which grossed nearly $100 million worldwide on a $5
million budget.
"Xander Cage" stars Diesel as a skilled government operative
character who debuted in the 2002 movie "xXx." The film also
stars Samuel L. Jackson, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Ruby
Rose, Kris Wu, and Nina Dobrev.
[to top of second column] |
D.J. Caruso directs from a script by F. Scott Frazier, which centers
on Diesel's Xander Cage coming out of self-imposed exile in a race
to recover a seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora's Box.
"Xander Cage" has an $85 million budget with backing from Chinese
companies Huahua Media and Shanghai Film Group, which limits
Paramount's exposure to about 50%. Paramount and the two companies
announced a three-year $1 billion co-financing deal on Thursday.
"Hidden Figures," which won the first two weekends of 2017, held
well with a 22% decline during the three days. The drama may be a
major beneficiary from Tuesday's Academy Awards nominations.
Illumination-Universal's fifth weekend of "Sing" led the rest of the
pack in fourth with $9 million at 3,193 locations for a 33-day take
of $249.4 million. Lionsgate's awards contender "La La Land"
finished a close fifth with $8.4 million at 1,865 sites to push its
total to nearly $90 million.
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
