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 What had been pegged as a close contest among Disney titles for
first place turned into a relatively easy victory for "Black
Panther." The Marvel title declined only 38 percent and
generated the third-highest fourth weekend of all time, trailing
only "Avatar" and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
With $562 million in 24 days, "Black Panther" is now the
seventh-highest domestic grosser of all time. It's the first
film since "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" to lead the North
American box office for four straight weekends and it's grossed
$1.08 billion worldwide, 21st highest of all time.
"A Wrinkle in Time" opened in line with Disney's projections,
which were slightly lower than the industry consensus. Critics
were mostly unimpressed with a 42 percent rating on Rotten
Tomatoes, and audiences gave "Wrinkle" a B CinemaScore. The $100
million-plus budgeted film is depending on family audiences to
support the film in the coming weeks to push it into
profitability.
A total of 37 percent of audiences gave "Wrinkle" an "excellent"
rating with another 38 percent rating it "very good," according
to comScore/Screen Engine PostTrak. Paul Dergarabedian, senior
media analyst with comScore, noted that the key 13-17 year-old
demographic gave it an 83 percent combined score in those two
categories. "That is very strong and makes sense with the PG
rating, the subject matter and young people's love for the
book," he added.
Based on Madeleine L'Engle's 1962 classic fantasy novel, "A
Wrinkle in Time" stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese
Witherspoon, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine, Mindy Kaling and
Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The film follows a young girl (Reid), her
step-brother (Deric McCabe), and a friend (Levi Miller) as they
embark on a journey that spans time and space in search of her
missing father.
The weekend marks the first time in recent memory that films
both led and directed by African-Americans have nabbed the first
and second place spots at the box office. Jordan Peele's "Get
Out," starring Daniel Kaluuya, led the box office its opening
weekend in February 2017, with $33.3 million. The wide release
of "Hidden Figures," starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer,
and Janelle Monae, opened at no. 1 in January of the same year
with $22.8 million.
Dave Hollis, president of worldwide distribution for Disney,
told Variety that "Black Panther" and "A Wrinkle in Time"
accounted for inclusion through their portrayals of strong
female and minority characters.
"Audiences respond to seeing themselves on the big screen and
it's good business for us," he added. "Representation and
inclusion matter."
Hollis also predicted that "A Wrinkle in Time" has the next four
weekends during spring vacations from schools. He noted that
Disney has traditionally opened a family film in early March to
take advantage of the family demographic, as it did last year
with "Beauty and the Beast" and in 2016 with "Zootopia."
Overall domestic box office was $137 million, down 17 percent
from the same weekend a year ago when "Kong: Skull Island"
opened with $61 million. But year-to-date box office is up 7.4
percent to $2.31 billion, according to comScore. That gain comes
largely from "Black Panther" and "Jumanji: Welcome to the
Jungle."
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The opening of Aviron Pictures' "The Strangers: Prey at Night" led
the rest of the pack in third with $10.5 million at 2,464 venues.
Directed by Johannes Roberts, the horror sequel to 2008's "The
Strangers" stars Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee
Madison, and Lewis Pullman.
Fox's second weekend of Jennifer Lawrence's spy thriller "Red
Sparrow" followed in fourth with $8.2 million at 3,064 sites with a
52 percent decline. "Sparrow" has topped $31 million in its first 10
days.
Warner Bros.' third weekend of R-rated comedy "Game Night" finished
fifth with $7.9 million at 3,061 locations, declining only 24
percent to lift its 17-day total to $45 million. Sony's fifth
weekend of "Peter Rabbit" came in sixth with $6.8 million at 3,112
venues to push the family comedy past $93 million domestically.
MGM's second weekend of "Death Wish" followed in seventh with $6.6
million at 2,882 sites to give the Bruce Willis reboot nearly $24
million in 10 days.
Entertainment Studios' action-thriller "The Hurricane Heist" opened
softly with $3.2 million at 2,402 locations, and tied for eighth
place with Paramount's third weekend of sci-fi horror movie
"Annihilation" at 1,709 screens.
Sony's 12th weekend of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" rounded out
the top 10 with $2.8 million at 2,157 sites. Its 82-day total has
hit a remarkable $397.3 million, good enough for the 30th spot on
the all-time domestic list.
Nash Edgerton's "Gringo" grossed a pallid $2.6 million at 2,402
locations to finish 11th. The Amazon Studios and STXfilms' action
comedy stars David Oyelowo as a business man who works for a company
that had developed the "weed pill" and is sent to Mexico to handle
the manufacturing of the product, but ends up getting kidnapped by a
drug cartel. The cast also includes Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton,
Amanda Seyfried, and Thandie Newton.
Fox Searchlight's 15th weekend of "The Shape of Water" followed in
12th with $2.4 million at 1,552 venues, up 63 percent as the studio
added 720 screens of Guillermo del Toro's fantasy drama, which won
best picture and best director at the Academy Awards. "Shape" has
grossed $61 million in 101 days.
Focus Features' thriller "Thoroughbreds" opened with a quiet $1.2
million on 549 screens. Anya Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke portray
childhood friends who reconnect in suburban Connecticut after years
of growing apart. Cory Finley makes his directing debut with the
film that features Anton Yelchin in his final on-screen role. The
actor died at age 26 in a freak accident in 2016.
Fox showed sneak previews of its gay romance "Love, Simon" on
Saturday night ahead of its opening next weekend in about 2,400
locations. Warner Bros. is also launching action-adventure "Tomb
Raider," starring Alicia Vikander, in around 3,600 locations. Both
face formidable competition from the fifth weekend of "Black
Panther," which could contend again for first place.
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