'Black Panther' Is Still King, 'Annihilation' Flops [Box Office]

It was your standard week at the box office: a massive blockbuster stayed on top at the multiplex, a big, broad comedy packed ’em in, and a brainy, critically acclaimed movie got sunk.

In developments that will shock no one, “Black Panther” stayed king, earning an astonishing $108 million. Just how big is that number? It’s bigger than the second-weekend figures of “The Avengers,” and by the end of today, “Black Panther” is expected to hit $400 million domestic — the fastest any Marvel movie has accomplished that feat. Its second-week drop of -46% is very strong, and as expected, the film is going to have excellent legs. Adding up ticket sales from around the world, “Black Panther” has now earned $704 million worldwide in two weeks. For comparison, “Justice League” finished with $657 million after fourteen weeks in cinemas. Damn.

In case you need evidence that critics rarely have a major impact on the opening weekend for movies, look no further than “Game Night” and “Annihilation.” New Line‘s mid-budget ($37 million), R-rated, ensemble comedy got solid reviews and opened with a respectable $16.6 million. It’s not box office breaking, but it’s very respectable for a movie featuring a bunch of actors who really don’t open movies to huge numbers on their own, and it puts the comedy on track for a tidy, respectable profit.

Meanwhile, Paramount‘s glowingly received “Annihilation” — which arguably had the biggest Film Twitter conversation currency in the days leading up to its debut — disappointed with $11 million. Yes, it technically had the second biggest per-screen-average of anything in the top ten, but that number was still a pretty low $5,467. I don’t like to be the one to say it, but the Paramount suit who thought Alex Garland’s film was “too intellectual” for wide audiences was correct and even led by A-lister Natalie Portman, it’s an extraordinarily difficult movie to market. At the very least, Netflix (who bought the international rights) will ensure the movie gets in front of eyeballs and into homes all over the world in a manner which Paramount likely couldn’t (and wouldn’t) have done by themselves.

Rounding out the new wide releases, some tweenage romance called “Every Day” earned $4.9 million to slide into the top ten. Meanwhile, at the arthouse, things were pretty chill with no major movies making any big waves.

1. “Black Panther” — $108 million ($400 mil.)
2. “Game Night” — $16.6 million
3. “Peter Rabbit” — $12.5 million ($71.2 mil.)
4. “Annihilation” — $11 million
5. “Fifty Shades Freed” — $6.9 million ($89.5 mil.)
6. “Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” — $5.6 million ($387.2 mil.)
7. “The 15:17 To Paris” — $3.6 million ($32.2 mil.)
8. “The Greatest Showman” — $3.4 million ($160.7 mil.)
9. “Every Day” — $3.1 million
10. “Early Man” — $1.7 million ($6.7 mil.)