By Leonard Klady Klady@moviecitynews.com
The Weekend Report
Black Panther led weekend moviegoing for a fourth weekend with an estimated $41.1 million. Four national releases opened for the session but only the long-taught A Wrinkle in Time proved competitive at $33.4 million. Other freshmen included a fine start for chiller The Strangers: Prey at Night of $10.3 million and early-year casualty status for Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures’ The Hurricane Heist and STX’s Gringo, with respective bows of $3 million and $2.6 million.
Also new in limited wide was teen revenge tale Thoroughbreds with an OK $1.2 million. Exclusive openers were dominated by political satire The Death of Stalin with a potent $177,000 from four mausoleums. Punjabi Laung Laachi with a solid $204,000 launch led Indian imports.
Revenues were about $138 million, for a 7% decline from last weekend. It was also 18% off from 2017.
The adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 fantasy, A Wrinkle in Time, previously made in 2003 as a forgotten television feature, received mixed reviews. Industry tracking suggested an opening of about $35 million with high-end outliers at $40 million. Some tagged that as disappointing but basic appeal should translate into strong holds and sustained power, even if it doesn’t become a family film behemoth. The opening weekend audience was 57% female with 57% 25 and older, which suggests the fifty-six-year-old novel might have lost beloved status to more contemporary young adult fare. A Wrinkle in Time also opened in six international territories to an estimated $6.3 million, with Russia dominating with a $4.1 million debut.
Likely few viewers of The Strangers: Prey at Night were drawn based upon its decade-old first entry. Still, tracking was good and it fulfilled high-end crystal-balling of $10 million. It had a slight 51% female tilt with 55% of viewers 25 and older.
Expectations for both The Hurricane Heist and Gringo were modest, with respective high ends of $4 million and $3 million that proved to be overly confident. Heist opened in a handful of nations a week ago, including France and grossed $1.4 million. Its audience was 55% male and 73% 25 and older.
In fading Oscar glory, only The Shape of Water and foreign-language winner A Fantastic Woman added new engagements, and neither had a second wind. The other winners generally lost about half of their playdates and a sharper decline in their box office.
| Weekend (estimates) March 9 – 11, 2018 | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Gross (average) | % change * | Theaters | Cume |
| Black Panther | BV | 41.1 (10,420) | -38% | 3942 | 562 |
| A Wrinkle in Time | BV | 33.4 (8,380) | NEW | 3980 | 33.4 |
| The Strangers: Prey at Night | Aviron/Elevation | 10.3 (4,190) | NEW | 2464 | 10.3 |
| Red Sparrow | Fox | 8.2 (2,680) | -51% | 3064 | 31.2 |
| Game Night | WB | 7.9 (2,570) | -24% | 3061 | 45 |
| Peter Rabbit | Sony | 6.8 (2,190) | -32% | 3112 | 93.5 |
| Death Wish | MGM/eOne | 6.6 (2,280) | -49% | 2882 | 23.9 |
| Annihilation | Par | 3.2 (1,850) | -44% | 1709 | 26.1 |
| The Hurricane Heist | Entertainment/D Films | 3.0 (1,260) | NEW | 2402 | 3 |
| Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | Sony | 2.7 (1,260) | -35% | 2157 | 397.2 |
| Gringo | STX/VVS | 2.6 (1,090) | NEW | 2404 | 2.6 |
| The Shape of Water | Fox Searchlight | 2.3 (1,500) | 59% | 1552 | 60.9 |
| The Greatest Showman | Fox | 1.7 (1,830) | -35% | 952 | 167.4 |
| Fifty Shades Freed | Uni | 1.3 (990) | -60% | 1357 | 98.3 |
| Thoroughbreds | Focus | 1.2 (2,220) | NEW | 549 | 1.2 |
| Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Fox Searchlight | .7 (1,250) | -47% | 552 | 53.3 |
| The Post | Fox | .31 (1,120) | -71% | 278 | 81.1 |
| Laung Laachi | VP Films | .29 (6,840) | NEW | 43 | 0.29 |
| Call Me By Your Name | Sony Classics | .28 (910) | -64% | 309 | 17.4 |
| A Fantastic Woman | Sony Classics | .27 (1,620) | 115% | 166 | 1.15 |
| Darkest Hour | Focus | .27 (1,110) | -61% | 245 | 56.1 |
| I, Tonya | Neon | .26 (1,080) | -52% | 243 | 29.5 |
| Coco | BV | .26 (1,350) | -18% | 194 | 208.8 |
| The 15:17 to Paris | WB | .25 (590) | -83% | 420 | 35.8 |
| Phantom Thread | Focus | .24 (1,310) | -68% | 184 | 20.7 |
| Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films) | $133.00 | ||||
| % Change (Last Year) | -18% | ||||
| % Change (Last Week) | -7% | ||||
| Also debuting/expanding | |||||
| Lady Bird | A24/Elevation | .18 (1,180) | -68% | 156 | 48.7 |
| The Death of Stalin | IFC | .18 (44,250) | 4 | 0.18 | |
| Operation Red Sea | Well Go | .17 (4,020) | -49% | 42 | 1.3 |
| The Leisure Seeker | Sony Classics | .12 (4,220) | 28 | 0.12 | |
| The Party | Roadside Attractions | .11 (1,180) | -16% | 91 | 0.49 |
| Ye Mantram Vesave | US Telugu | 52,400 (730) | 72 | 0.05 | |
| Loveless | Sony Classics | 52,700 (1,420) | -14% | 37 | 0.3 |
| Tagaru | Venus | 34,200 (1,370) | 25 | 0.03 | |
| The Princess and the Matchmaker | CJ | 19,800 (6,600) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| Leaning into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy | Magnolia | 18,300 (4,570) | 4 | 0.02 | |
| Chien de garde | Axia | 17,300 (4,320) | 4 | 0.02 | |
| Meditation Park | Mongrel | 17,400 (5.800) | 3 | 0.02 | |
| Walk with Me | Kino | 14,200 (14,200) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Girls vs. Gangsters | Well Go | 13,600 (3,400) | 4 | 0.01 | |
| Claire’s Camera | Cinema Guild | 10,700 (10,700) | 1 | 0.01 | |
| Itzhak | Greenwich | 10,100 (5,050) | 2 | 0.01 | |
| Bent | Lionsgate | 4,500 (500) | 9 | 0.01 | |
| Domestic Market Share (January 2 – March 8, 2018) | |||||
| Distributor (releases) | Box Office (millions) | Market Share | |||
| Buena Vista (5) | 649.6 | 30.40% | |||
| Sony (8) | 334.8 | 15.70% | |||
| 20th Century Fox (6) | 298.5 | 14.00% | |||
| Universal (5) | 197.4 | 9.30% | |||
| Warner Bros. (11) | 167.1 | 7.80% | |||
| Fox Searchlight (2) | 70.1 | 3.30% | |||
| STX (3) | 61.8 | 2.90% | |||
| Focus (2) | 56.1 | 2.60% | |||
| Lionsgate (6) | 54.6 | 2.60% | |||
| Paramount (3) | 30.8 | 1.40% | |||
| Entertainment (1) | 28.4 | 1.30% | |||
| Neon (1) | 24.6 | 1.20% | |||
| CBS (1) | 22.9 | 1.10% | |||
| MGM (2) | 21.4 | 1.00% | |||
| A24 (3) | 18.5 | 0.90% | |||
| Roadside Attractions (1) | 15.5 | 0.70% | |||
| Other * (78) | 81.9 | 3.80% | |||
| 2134 | 100% | ||||
| * none greater than 0.5% | |||||
| Global Box Office Champs (January 2 – March 8, 2018) | |||||
| Title | Distributor | Box Office (millions) | |||
| Black Panther | BV | 1,037,462,045 | |||
| Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle * | Sony | 598,635,531 | |||
| Detective Chinatown 2 | Wanda; WB | 507,997,439 | |||
| Operation Red Sea | Bons; Well Go | 494,919,655 | |||
| Fifty Shades Freed | Uni | 361,460,668 | |||
| Monster Hunt 2 | Edko; Lionsgate | 355,378,401 | |||
| The Greatest Showman * | Fox | 289,533,571 | |||
| Maze Runner: The Death Cure | Fox | 279,194,361 | |||
| Star Wars: The Last Jedi * | BV | 277,137,928 | |||
| Ex- File 3 * | Huayi; China Lions | 261,718,877 | |||
| Coco * | BV | 213,379,330 | |||
| Insidious: The Last Key | Uni; Sony | 165,743,824 | |||
| Ferdinand * | Fox | 161,702,209 | |||
| The Post * | Fox | 156,045,480 | |||
| The Monkey King 3 | Filmko; Well Go | 122,625,370 | |||
| Forever Young | United | 119,028,200 | |||
| Darkest Hour * | Focus | 116,011,609 | |||
| The Shape of Water * | Fox | 111,087,356 | |||
| Peter Rabbit | Sony | 109,018,824 | |||
| Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Fox | 107,520,594 | |||
| The Commuter | Studio Canal; Lionsgate | 102,190,235 | |||
| Paddington 2 * | WB | 95,749,546 | |||
| Boonie Bears: The Big Shrink (China) | Pearl River | 94,358,627 | |||
| Wonder * | Lionsgate | 94,142,532 | |||
| * does not include 2017 box office | |||||
