Weekend Wrap-Up: Another Week, Another Set of Records for Black Panther
February 26, 2018
Almost everyone expected Black Panther to earn first place over the weekend. I doubt there were many people who expected this. The film fell just 45% earning $111.66 million for a ten-day total of $403.61 million, helping the film make appearances on a number of record charts, including; second biggest second weekend of release, second fastest to $400 million, etc. The new releases matched expectations, more or less, with Game Night earning second place and coming within a rounding error of our prediction. Overall, the box office earned $192 million. This is 33% lower than last weekend; however, this is a good hold for a post-holiday weekend. Compared to last year, the box office was up by 55% and this is a much more important number. Year-to-date, 2018 has a 14% / $230 million lead over 2017, at $1.88 billion to $1.65 billion. This is great news at this point of the year, but we really need to stretch that lead to over $300 million in the next two plus weeks, before we are dealing with Beauty and the Beast, if we can’t, then this lead could evaporate before the end of March.
The Fanboy Effect was no match for Black Panther, which fell on 45% to $111.66 million during its second weekend of release, giving it $403.61 million after just ten days of release. It is already the fifth highest grossing film in the MCU, and by the time you read this, it will be in third place. The reviews are among the best we’ve seen for a blockbuster in a very long time, while it earned a rare A plus from CinemaScore, so we shouldn’t be too surprised its legs are so long. However, the Fanboy Effect usually wins out over reviews and word of mouth. With this result, we have to assume the word-of-mouth is resulting in people, who were not that interested before its release, in seeing it the second weekend, or this is a result of people seeing the film multiple times. Either way, the film should have no trouble earning first place next weekend and will earn enough domestically to cover its entire production budget and nearly all of its initial advertising budget. Worldwide, it will make more than enough to cover its combined budget, and the budget of its inevitable sequel.
Game Night was next with $17.01 million during its opening weekend. The film earned positive reviews, but only a B plus from CinemaScore, which is merely okay. The film reportedly only cost $37 million to make and it will have no trouble getting passed that. If it can find an audience internationally, then it will break even early in its home market run, perhaps before it hits the home market.
Peter Rabbit slipped a spot to third with $12.76 million over the weekend for a total of $71.51 million after three weeks of release. The film will have no trouble getting to $100 million domestically, but it will fall out of the top five before it gets there.
Annihilation opened in fourth place with $11.07 million, which is solid for a film opening in barely more than 2,000 theaters. It earned excellent reviews, but only a C from CinemaScore, so it was clearly a divisive film among audience members, so its legs are in doubt. That said, this feels like a film that could find a devoted fan base on the home market.
Fifty Shades Freed matched expectations nearly perfectly with $7.15 million over the weekend, for a running tally of $89.79 million after three weeks of release. It will get to $100 million, but it will take more than a week to get there. On the other hand, this will be the last weekend in the top five for the film.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle just missed the top five, but it is on pace for $400 million, so we are going to keep an eye on it till it gets there. This weekend, the film pulled in $5.65 million for a ten-week total of $387.28 million. The film will start losing theaters at an accelerated pace, but that won’t prevent it from hitting $400 million.
Every Day only managed $3.1 million during its opening weekend, earning ninth place along the way. Its reviews are mixed and it only managed a B plus from CinemaScore; however, it opened below the Mendoza Line, so the word-of-mouth won’t matter. Theater owners will be dropping it before that can really take effect.
The next best film in the sophomore class was Early Man, but it only managed $1.77 million over the weekend for a total of $6.85 million after two weeks of release. Its theater average is a mere $711, so it will likely lose a majority of its theaters on Friday. Likewise, Samson will be mostly gone from theaters on Friday, after earning $971,000 in 1,140 theaters over the weekend, for a running tally of $3.74 million.
- Game Night Comparisons
- Annihilation Comparisons
- Every Day Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Black Panther, Fifty Shades Freed, Early Man, Annihilation, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Peter Rabbit, Game Night, Samson, Every Day, Marvel Cinematic Universe