‘Black Panther’ again rules box office
The cultural, critical and commercial phenomenon that is “Black Panther” boldly marched through its third weekend, hauling in $66.3 million over the three days, more than triple the debuts of “Red Sparrow and “Death Wish,” according to data from box office tracker Comscore.
That’s the third-largest third weekend of all time after “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($90.2 million) and “Avatar” ($68.5 million).
“Black Panther,” Marvel Studios’ latest superhero offering, directed by Ryan Coogler and starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan and Lupita Nyong’o, now stands at $501.7 million domestically.
The Jennifer Lawrence-starring “Red Sparrow” was the week’s runner-up with $16.9 million. It earned a B from audiences polled by Cinemascore and a mediocre 51 percent positive rating from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The film reteams Lawrence with “Hunger Games” director Francis Lawrence (no relation), and it marks a sizable drop from the $100 million-plus openings of that trilogy. In “Red Sparrow,” the star plays a former ballerina recruited to be a Russian agent.
Director Eli Roth’s remake of “Death Wish,” starring Bruce Willis as a surgeon turned vigilante, finished third with $13 million. The movie has a brutal Rotten Tomatoes score of 15 percent. Audiences were kinder, grading it a B-plus on Cinemascore. It is Willis’ biggest opening since “Red 2” in 2013.
Falling to fourth in its second weekend was the action-comedy “Game Night,” starring Jason Bateman and Rachel Mcadams, with $10.4 million, bringing its North American total to $33.2 million.
Sony continued to hold the family audience with “Peter Rabbit” ($10 million) and “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” ($4.4 million) landing in fifth and seventh places.
British filmmaker Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller “Annihilation,” starring Natalie Portman, was sixth in its second weekend with $5.6 million and $20.6 million overall; the erotic romance “Fifty Shades Freed” was eighth with $3.4 million and a total of $95.7 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were “The Greatest Showman,” grossing $2.7 million, good for ninth place, and $164.6 million in its 11th weekend, and “Every Day” hanging on in 10th place, with $1.6 million and a total of $5.3 million through two weekends.
“Black Panther’s” successful run sets up an interesting matchup next week with another Disney release, Ava Duvernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.