411 Box Office Report: Us Blasts Off to $70.3 Million, Captain Marvel Tops $900 Million Worldwide

Captain Marvel ceded the top spot to Us at the box office by virtue of the horror film’s massive opening weekend. Jordan Peele’s fright film nailed down an epic $70.3 million in its first three days. That marks the best opening for an non-adapted film since Avatar started off with $77 million back in 2009 and the third-best horror opening of all-time behind It Chapter One ($123.4 million) and last fall’s Halloween ($76.2 million). It’s also a massive overperformance for a film that was expected to start with between $40 million and $48 million.

There’s no way to oversell how huge of an opening this is. Us went more than double the $33.8 million start of Peele’s 2017 directorial debut Get Out, riding a wave of critical acclaim. Reviews have been ecstatic since the film premiered at SXSW earlier in the month, and the current Rotten Tomatoes consensus is at 94%. Horror is a genre that isn’t usually negatively-affected by reviews; however, positive buzz can really give films in the genre a boost. Universal has been canny in the marketing, dropping the first trailer back around Christmas to great effect. And social engagement has been strong across the board.

There is a slight downside to this film, to be fair. While the CinemaScore of B is good for horror, it’s a ways below the A that Get Out earned. Us had a day-to-day hold throughout the weekend that was comparable to The Nun and Halloween. Why is this relevant? Because day-to-day holds for opening weekend can be a preview of how the film’s legs will turn out. Both The Nun and Halloween both had a final gross just above double their opening weekends. There’s reason to believe that Us will have better holds, as it doesn’t have horror competition and non-sequels tend to have stronger legs. Right now, a final gross around $180 million to $200 million seems very doable, and if the second-weekend hold is good it could get much higher. Overseas it added $16.7 million for a $87 million worldwide first weekend. It’s a huge hit for Universal against its $20 million budget plus marketing.

While Captain Marvel dropped to second place, it was still looking great with a $35 million third weekend, down 49%. That puts the Marvel film at $321.5 million domestically and $910.3 million worldwide. These put the film at #10 domestically among the MCU films and #7 worldwide. At this point the film is looking likely to finish off with $400 million domestically and $1 billion worldwide, a massive success against its $153 million budget.

Paramount Animation’s Wonder Park had an okay hold in its second weekend, down 43% to $9 million. The studio was likely hoping for a better hold, but considering that this film overindexed last weekend it’s nothing to laugh at. Wonder Park has now grossed $29.5 million domestically and $39.7 million worldwide, but isn’t looking like it will be able to avoid being a money loser against its $80 million budget unless overseas grosses come in a lot stronger in the coming weeks. A $50 million final domestic take still seems likely.

Five Feet Apart is doing a nice job of bringing in its target audience, down just 34% in its second weekend with $8.8 million. Lionsgate’s teen romantic dramedy was much better than similarly-themed films Midnight Sun (55%) and Everything, Everything (48%). To date the film has $26.5 million domestically and $32.8 million worldwide off of a $7 million budget. The film should be able to finish with around $42 million in the US, enough for a bit of profit.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World held on tight to its audience, down just 30% to $6.5 million. The franchise-closer has now grossed $145.8 million domestically and $488.1 million worldwide. The movie is on course to close at around $170 million domestically, a hit on its $129 million budget.

Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral is continuing to hold on better than the filmmaker’s usual films, off 43% in its fourth weekend to $4.5 million. The comedy has now reached $65.9 million domestically and $66.8 million worldwide, making its final gross likely to be around $75 million. That would be enough for the second-highest domestic total of the Madea films, behind only Madea Goes to Jail’s $90.5 million. It’s a profitable film for the studio against a $20 million budget.

A24 had a nice start for their romantic drama Gloria Bell. The Julianne Moore-starring reimagining of 2013’s Chilean film Gloria expanded into 654 theaters and scored $1.8 million. The film rode a wave of acclaim (93% on RT) to a solid expansion number. It’s hard to tell where a film like this will end up finishing, as it depends largely on A24’s expansion plans. But for now, it seems likely to take in at least $10 million. The budget isn’t known.

No Manches Frida 2 stuck it out in the top ten for a second week. The Spanish-language comedy sequel was down 54% to $1.8 million. That’s a higher drop than the first film’s 43%, but Pantelion isn’t sweating things considering this film started off with double the original’s opening weekend. The film has $6.6 million domestically and should get to $12 million or so.

The Lego Movie 2 was off 48% in its seventh weekend, bringing in $1.1 million. The animated sequel is now up to $103.3 million domestically and $179.5 million domestically, with its final grosses nearing. It should end at around $108 million, which isn’t great but should be a very small profit on a $99 million budget plus marketing.

Alita: Battle Angel spent its last weekend in the top ten, down 47% to $1 million in its sixth weekend. The sci-fi action film brought its totals to $83.7 million domestically and $399.9 million worldwide. The film looks like it will finish around $87 million in the US and will break even at best. The budget was $170 million.

A new champion will reign next weekend as Dumbo will push Us out of the top spot. The live-action Disney adaptation should bring in around $60 million. Also opening is Pure Flix’s Unplanned, which should open around $2 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Us – $70.3 million ($70.3 million total)
2. Captain Marvel – $35 million ($321.5 million total)
3. Wonder Park – $9 million ($29.5 million total)
4. Five Feet Apart – $8.8 million ($26.5 million total)
5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – $6.5 million ($147.8 million total)
6. A Madea Family Funeral – $4.5 million ($65.9 million total)
7. Gloria Bell – $1.8 million ($2.5 million total)
8. No Manches Frida 2 – $1.8 million ($6.6 million total)
9. The Lego Movie 2 – $1.1 million ($103.3 million total)
10. Alita: Battle Angel – $1.0 million ($83.7 million total)