‘Rampage’ ekes out victory at box office

Debut narrowly tops holdover ‘A Quiet Place’ with $34.5M opening

LOS ANGELES — After a wobbly start, Dwayne Johnson muscled his way to a No. 1 opening for “Rampage.” Close on its heels was “A Quiet Place” in its second week in theaters, and not too far behind that was the Blumhouse horror “Truth or Dare.”

“Rampage” earned an estimated $34.5 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, and dominated internationally with $114.1 million from 61 territories.

Based on the classic arcade game, “Rampage” had a budget of at least $115 million. Although it reviews were mixed (50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences were more enthusiastic, giving it an A- CinemaScore.

“A Quiet Place” fell only 35 percent in weekend two, adding $32.6 million to its domestic total, now just shy of $100 million.

“Truth or Dare” found a sizable audience of mostly young (60 percent under 25) and female (60 percent).

With a $3.5 million budget, it made $19.1 million over the weekend.

In fourth place was Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One,” with $11.2 million in its third weekend, and in fifth was the R-rated comedy “Blockers,” with $10.3 million.

Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated “Isle of Dogs” took the No. 7 spot with $5 million.

It was another down weekend for the industry. “We’re just in this lull waiting for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ that is going to blow the doors off of the box office in a little less than two weeks,” com Score’s Paul Dergarabedian said.