There are certain filmmakers that carry a name that is so trusted that it almost doesn’t matter what the film is going to be about, the director’s name is good enough to spark ticket sales. Some examples of this include James Cameron, Christopher Nolan, and of course, Steven Spielberg. But now, it’s safe to add Jordan Peele to that list. And no, that’s not hyperbolic. Because after the opening weekend “Us” is experiencing, Peele has now cemented himself as a true box office draw.
Thanks to the box office success of the his Oscar-winning debut film “Get Out,” analysts had Peele’s latest film debuting somewhere in the $50 million range. Not only did “Us” bust through that prediction, but the horror film also demolished all in its path, on its way to a monstrous $70 million opening weekend. This opening ranks it #3 all-time among horror films, only outgrossed by “It” ($123 million) and last year’s “Halloween” ($76 million). That’s some pretty incredible box office territory. Perhaps, the most impressive stat is the “Us” only trails Cameron’s “Avatar” ($77 million) as the highest opening ever for a live-action original film.
The biggest difference between James Cameron’s 3D epic and Peele’s newest horror film comes down the bottom line – budget. Peele took more of a budget than “Get Out” for “Us,” but still kept it modest by 2019 standards, with a reported $20 million price tag. Adding to that, the reported $75-ish million in Prints & Advertising, and Universal shelled out approximately $100 million on the horror flick. Clearly, the studio is going to earn a hefty profit on “Us” after everything is all said and done.
All that being said, there is one area of concern for Peele and Universal – word-of-mouth. After “Get Out” become a phenomenon in 2017, the low-budget thriller was carried largely by the incredible reception by film fans, who went back multiple times and encouraged everyone they know to go see what Jordan Peele cooked up. However, judging by the CinemaScore for “Us,” the fans don’t seem to be nearly as enthusiastic this time, with only a ‘B’ compared to the ‘A-’ for “Get Out.” That means that the folks who saw it opening weekend were less impressed with Peeles’ second effort. We’ll have to see if next weekend marks a steep drop for the horror film, or if the CinemaScore is meaningless (as it sometimes is with this genre).
“Us” isn’t the only impressive story this weekend, however. The three-day period also marked the third for Marvel Studios’ “Captain Marvel.” And as the heroine has done the previous two frames, Carol Danvers continues to impress, especially given the massive competition. Dropping only -48.5% in its third weekend, “Captain Marvel” earned another $35 million domestically, bringing its total to an astounding $321 million in 17 days in theaters. On the domestic all-time list, “Captain Marvel” has moved past previous superhero films like “Iron Man” ($318 million), “Thor: Ragnarok” ($315 million), and “Iron Man 2” ($312 million). The 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is hot on the heels of some major recent superhero films like “Deadpool 2” ($324 million) and yes, even “Aquaman” ($334 million).
But let’s be real, the real number for “Captain Marvel” is the coveted $1 billion global gross. And through 17 days, the film is well on its way to breaking through that milestone with a total of $910 million. With that global gross, “Captain Marvel” has passed films like “Venom” ($855 million), “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2” ($864 million), “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” ($874 million), and “Spider-Man: Homecoming” ($880 million). And the biggest feather in the latest Marvel Studios film’s cap has to be beating “Wonder Woman” and its global gross of $821 million. It’s expected that “Captain Marvel” will cross the $1 billion threshold next weekend.
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Even though we’re still a couple of weeks from the film’s true release, this weekend saw Warner Bros./DC’s “Shazam!” debut in a limited run “preview screening” release. Playing in only a couple showings at 1,200 locations, “Shazam” earned $3.3 million in previews. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but considering this idea of “preview screenings” for major releases is still a relatively new thing to drum up the hype, we can only really compare it to “Aquaman” and “How to Train Your Dragon 3,” which both did a similar thing. “Shazam,” surprisingly beat both of those films’ “previews” with ‘Dragon 3’ earning $2.6 million and “Aquaman” pulling in $2.9 million. Of course, there’s really no way to predict how this will carry over into total grosses, but it does show that “Shazam” does have the fanboys and fangirls hyped, which means we could see a better-than-expected opening weekend in a couple of weeks.
As for the rest of the box office, the real standout this weekend is “Gloria Bell,” starring Julianne Moore. The English-language remake of the well-received “Gloria” expanded wide in its 3rd weekend to 654 locations and earned a respectable $1.8 million, good for #7 on the domestic weekend chart. That’s not Earth-shattering, but also not terrible. Perhaps, word of mouth can carry the film through, as a counter-programming option, in the weeks to come.
The biggest drop of the week comes courtesy of “Captive State.” The Rupert Wyatt-directed sci-fi film already debuted last weekend with a very disappointing box office total. But in its second weekend, the film dropped -70.7% to only 900,000 (and out of the top 10). Oof.
Next weekend, Disney unleashes the live-action remake of “Dumbo,” which is expected to easily win the weekend. There are also films like Harmony Korine’s “The Beach Bum” which hits limited release and the faith-based, anti-choice film “Unplanned,” which opens semi-wide in 1,000 locations.
Here’s the domestic top 10 for March 22 to March 24:
1. Us – $70M (Debut)
2. Captain Marvel – $35M ($321M Overall)
3. Wonder Park – $9M ($29.5M)
4. Five Feet Apart – $8.75M ($26.5M)
5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – $6.5M ($146M)
6. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral – $4.5M ($66M)
7. Gloria Bell – $1.8M ($2.5M)
8. No Manches Frida 2 – $1.78M ($6.6M)
9. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part – $1.1M ($103M)
10. Alita: Battle Angel – $1M ($84M)