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 King Kong's roar didn't totally drown out Wolverine's
berserker rage. In its second weekend, Fox's "Logan" dropped 58%
to $37.8 million, pushing its stateside total to $152.6 million.
The R-rated comic book adventure is Hugh Jackman's swan song as
Wolverine after nearly two decades playing the X-Men team
member.
"Kong: Skull Island" gets bragging rights for topping
expectations, but the film isn't out of the woods yet. It cost a
hefty $185 million to produce, which means that it will need to
be a hit overseas if Legendary and Warner Bros., the studios
behind the film, want to make a profit. On the domestic front,
"Kong: Skull Island" is also staring down Disney's "Beauty and
the Beast," a live-action fairy tale that is expected to
premiere to as much as $120 million next weekend. That will
likely suck up most of the oxygen in the multiplexes, making it
difficult for other films to keep drawing in big crowds.
Legendary and Warner Bros. have grand ambitions for King Kong.
The film is the second installment in a planned monster
franchise. The first chapter, 2014's "Godzilla," opened to $93.2
million in the States before topping out at $529.1 million
globally. The plan is for King Kong and Godzilla to meet in an
epic showdown of primordial creatures at some point in the
not-too-distant future.
"The movie is pure fun and that's translating into the box
office," said Jeff Goldstein, domestic distribution chief at
Warner Bros. He went on to predict that the film would benefit
from rolling spring breaks that will see more than 20% of the
nation's schoolchildren on vacation and looking for something to
occupy their time. The opening weekend crowd for the film was
56% male and 35% under the age of 25. Imax showings accounted
for $7.5 million worth of ticket sales.
Because of its massive production and marketing costs, "Kong:
Skull Island" will need to do roughly $500 million worldwide to
be considered a success. To that end, the film debuted to $81.6
million in 65 foreign markets. A lot is riding on how the movie
performs in China, the world's second-largest film market.
"Kong: Skull Island" opens in the Middle Kingdom in two weeks.
Set in the waning days of the Vietnam War, "Kong: Skull Island"
exchanges embassy helicopter rescues for oversized primates
looming large against a fog-encrusted jungle setting. Jordan
Vogt-Roberts, who made a splash with the Sundance favorite
"Kings of Summer," directed the picture, with Tom Hiddleston,
Samuel L. Jackson, and Brie Larson heading up an ensemble cast.
Critics embraced the decision to give an "Apocalypse, Now" sheen
to the oft-filmed story of King Kong, with Variety's Owen
Gleiberman hailing it as "a rousing and smartly crafted
primordial-beastie spectacular."
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With Wolvie and Kong duking it out for the top slot, Blumhouse and
Universal's "Get Out" snagged third place. The low-budget thriller
about a black man whose visit to his white girlfriend's hometown
takes a sinister turn picked up $21.1 million. It has earned $111
million in three weeks of release -- a fantastic return on its $4.5
million budget.
The top five was rounded out by Lionsgate's "The Shack" and Warner
Bros.' "The Lego Batman Movie," which earned $10.1 million and $7.8
million, respectively. "The Shack," a faith-based drama, has grossed
$32.3 million in two weeks of release. The latest Lego movie has
earned $159 million after five weeks in theaters.
Among limited releases, CBS Films' "The Sense of an Ending," an
adaptation of Julian Barnes' prize-winning novel, opened to $42,000
from four locations, while Focus World's "Raw," a horror film about
a vegetarian student who turns to cannibalism, debuted to $25,230
from two theaters.
Ticket sales were up nearly 25% from the same weekend in 2016 -- a
period that overlapped with the second weekend of "Zootopia" and the
debut of "10 Cloverfield Lane." Revenues are up roughly 2%
year-to-date, as the combination of "Logan," "Get Out," and now
"Kong: Skull Island" are translating into a busy time at the box
office. Next weekend brings the release of "Beauty and the Beast,"
which should expand 2017's lead.
"This could be the biggest March on record," said Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst at ComScore. "You don't have to wait until May
to release blockbusters any more."
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