1. A Quiet Place (review)- $50M
On a week in which all of the new releases got off to strong starts it was John Krasinski’s well-reviewed horror A Quiet Place that made the most noise. Its $50M opening weekend has to be music to the ears of Paramount, as it ranks as among their best debuts in years, and definitely their biggest since Star Trek Beyond back in 2016. The number charts as the second biggest opening for an original horror movie ever, just a tad behind M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village in 2004. The reason is simple: awesome reviews and a truly unique premise. The film sits at 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and the audience consensus is high as well. We talk a lot about the negative impacts of Rotten Tomatoes but this is a case there it, along with good word of mouth, have taken a small-ish film to box office heights.
2. Ready Player One– $25M/$96.9M
Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One only had a single week at the top of the charts, but I don’t think Warner Bros. will complain. The pop culture adventure flick scored another $25M domestic for $96M overall, but worldwide its playing like a champ with $391M.
3. Blockers (review)- $21.4M
Teen sex comedies don’t always find the mark with audiences but Blockers is proving to be a winner. The comedy from director Kay Cannon (writer of the Pitch Perfect trilogy) stars John Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz as parents who set out to stop their teen daughters from losing their virginity on prom night. The premise seemed like a potential minefield, especially in today’s sex positive climate, but reviews have praised the film for being more thoughtful and feminist than expected, especially considering the five male writers who worked on it.
4. Black Panther– $8.4M/$665.3M
5. I Can Only Imagine– $8.3M/$69M
6. Tyler Perry’s Acrimony– $8M/$31.3M
7. Chappaquiddick (review)- $6.2M
In a win for older-skewing dramas, Chappaquiddick, which centers on the 1969 scandal that nearly destroyed senator Ted Kennedy’s career, opened with $6.2M. That’s pretty good considering it only opened in 1500 theaters, and of course the serious material that isn’t likely to attract anybody under the age of 35. I really enjoyed it and other critics are favoring it, as well. It could probably do with an expansion so that more people can have a chance to see what all of the good buzz is about. If this were later in the year we’d probably be talking about it as an awards season dark horse, especially for Jason Clarke’s lead performance.
8. Sherlock Gnomes– $5.6M/$33.8M
9. Pacific Rim Uprising– $4.9M/$54.9M
At $267M worldwide Pacific Rim Uprising is looking like a dude, and well short of the underwhelming $411M of the first movie.
10. Isle of Dogs (review)- $4.6M
Cracking the top 10 is Wes Anderson’s wonderful animated film, Isle of Dogs, which expanded to 554 theaters and earned $4.6M for $12M after three weeks.
