“Black Panther” Becomes 10th Biggest Movie Ever with Monster Third Weekend

By Kip Mooney • On • In Weekend Box Office Report Weekend Box Office Report 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT

March 2-4, 2018

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Black Panther $65.7 million
Red Sparrow $17.0 million
Death Wish $13.0 million
Game Night $10.7 million
Peter Rabbit $10.0 million

After a monster third weekend (one of the biggest third weekends ever), Black Panther became only the 10th movie in history to cross $500 million domestically. There are only two comic book movies ahead of it – one D.C. and one Marvel – and while it's guaranteed to pass the former (The Dark Knight) by next weekend, it's looking increasingly likely it will pass the other (The Avengers) before the month is over. We're running out of adjectives over here to describe what an achievement this is. Even with increased competition over the next month (mostly from A Wrinkle in Time and Ready Player One), it will certainly top $600 million and has a chance to be not only the biggest movie of 2018, but bigger than any movie from 2017 or 2016. That is some serious Wakanda power.

Red Sparrow, though not a superhero, did have the superheroic power of Jennifer Lawrence behind it. While $17 million isn't a massive opening, it's certainly a strong presentation from an actress moving beyond Y.A. franchises and the world of comic books. It's almost made more than her controversial – but excellent – 2017 film mother! did in its entire run.

Death Wish did better than expected, despite dreadful reviews. But its estimated $13 million will quickly fade and the movie may struggle to earn back its $30 million budget domestically. Game Night had a respectable drop of less than 40 percent and is likely to stick around and end up being one of March's success stories, as a lot of the smaller releases over the next few weeks will fade quickly. Peter Rabbit fell just 21 percent, as it inches closer to a possible $100 million finish.

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: The horror flick Death House. Playing on just one screen, the slasher movie earned $10,295.
  • Both Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman have pulled off the rare feat of notching 10 consecutive weekends in the top 10. That's something not even Star Wars: The Last Jedi managed (though Beauty and the Beast and Spider-Man: Homecoming both did).
  • As it's been every single year, this year's crop of Oscar-nominated short films has out-grossed the previous year. 2018's batch has now made $3.2 million, passing last year's $2.8 million.

Next week:

Black Panther is likely to be unseated by a movie from another black filmmaker, the first time that will have ever happened. Ava DuVernay's adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time for Disney has been pushed just as hard, even if the hype level hasn't been quite as deafening. I'm predicting an opening somewhere around $75 million, which at this point is hard to tell if that's a huge overestimation or underestimation. Regardless, it should be No. 1, with Gringo, The Hurricane Heist and The Strangers: Prey at Night all battling for third place.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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