A Quiet Place roars with top-spot debut

John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place made a thunderous debut at the box office, opening with $50 million (1.6 billion baht) in ticket sales and rumbling to the year’s second-best weekend after Black Panther, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The Paramount Pictures thriller far exceeded expectations to land one of the top opening weekends for a horror release. It marks an unlikely breakthrough for Krasinski, the former Office star many associate more with inter-office romance and deadpan expressions than silent cinematic frights. Krasinski’s third directing effort, which stars himself and wife Emily Blunt, is about a family in a future dystopia populated by violent creatures with extremely acute hearing.

But it was far from the only success story of the weekend, which also saw Universal’s R-rated comedy Blockers open solidly with $21.4 million, and Steven Spielberg’s virtual-reality adventure Ready Player One, which dipped only 40% with $25.1 million in its second weekend.

Greenlit under the previous leadership, A Quiet Place is the first major success under Jim Gianopulos, who took over as studio head a year ago. The opening is Paramount’s biggest since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond and its best non-franchise opening since 2013’s World War Z.

Blockers also heralds a filmmaking breakthrough aided by an enthusiastic response from SXSW audiences. The film, which cost about $21 million to make, is the directorial debut of Kay Cannon, a writer whose credits include 30 Rock and Pitch Perfect. Blockers, starring Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz as parents trying to prevent their daughters from losing their virginity, shrugged off a recent slump for comedies in theatres.

Despite the competition, Warner Bros’ Ready Player One held well, bringing its domestic total to $96.9 million. But it’s fared even better overseas, where Spielberg’s latest has already grossed $294.4 million. It’s done especially well in China, where the film has made $161.3 million in two weeks.

Continuing ticket sales also pushed Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther further into the record books. The Marvel blockbuster now ranks third all-time domestically with $665.4 million, trailing only Avatar and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Over the weekend, Black Panther passed 1997’s Titanic, which grossed $659.4 million, though accounting for inflation would put it above $1 billion. Estimated ticket sales for Friday until Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers also are included.

1. A Quiet Place, $50 million ($21 million international). 2. Ready Player One,

$25.1 million

($81.7 million international).

3. Blockers, $21.4 million ($3.2 million international).

4. Black Panther, $8.4 million ($4.5 million international).

5. I Can Only Imagine,

$8.4 million.

6. Tyler Perry’s Acrimony,

$8.1 million.

7. Chappaquiddick, $6.2 million. 8. Sherlock Gnomes, $5.6 million ($2.7 million international).

9. Pacific Rim Uprising, $4.9 million ($12.4 million international). 10. Isle Of Dogs, $4.6 million

($1.1 million international). AP