1. Black Panther– $27M/$605.4M
Standing strong for the fifth straight week is Marvel’s Black Panther, which has now surpassed $600M domestic and nears $1.2B. At this rate there’s a chance it could still be in theaters when Avengers: Infinity War comes through next month. I’ll be interested to see how Disney handles that situation.
2. Tomb Raider (review)- $23.5M
The rebooted Tomb Raider franchise with Alicia Vikander in the lead role of Lara Croft opened with a decent $23M domestic. That’s not terrible but hardly a great launching point, especially when you consider Angelina Jolie’s sequel The Cradle of Life opened with $21M and that was what killed hope for future movies. That said, this version has the benefit of a strong international market that added $102M into the mix. So even if the film does just okay here, overall we’re probably looking at a modest success for Warner Bros.
3. I Can Only Imagine– $17M
Emerging like a spiritual RKO outta nowhere was the faith-based drama I Can Only Imagine, which was neither screened for press or had marketed to wide audiences. Roadside Attractions scored their biggest debut ever and, if it holds up, could surpass Manchester by the Sea as their highest-grossing release. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Trace Adkins, Cloris Leachman, and newcomer J. Michael Finley, telling the story of the origin of the titular MercyMe song. Roadside targeted the Christian audience with this one and clearly they hit the right sweet spot. The faith-based genre has been rolling now for a few years consistently, so remember that the next time someone tells you Hollywood only appeals to us heathen liberals.
4. A Wrinkle in Time– $16.5M/$61M
Ava DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time isn’t holding on to its audience as well as it needed to after last week’s disappointing debut. The big budget, starry adaptation slipped 50% and earned $16.5M. With overseas grosses it now has $71M worldwide. The good news is DuVernay isn’t paying the price for this as she was just hired to do New Gods for Warner Bros.
5. Love, Simon (review)- $11.5M
I was hoping for a whopper debut from Greg Berlanti’s teen romance Love, Simon. Not only is it the first major studio release with a gay teenage lead, but it’s just a terrific movie that should appeal to just about everybody. But $11M will have to do, and it actually isn’t a bad start. The film has great reviews from critics and audiences, leading me to think it’ll be sticking around for a while. At least we know it didn’t lose any audience to I Can Only Imagine, right? Probably not.
6. Game Night– $5.5M/$54.1M
7. Peter Rabbit– $5.2M/$102.4M
8. Strangers: Prey at Night– $4.8M/$18.6M
9. Red Sparrow– $4.4M/$39.5M
10. Death Wish– $3.3M/$29.9M
