New Wrinkle in Panther’s path

LOS ANGELES — Two Disney pictures with black directors dominated at the box office over the weekend, with newcomer A Wrinkle in Time finishing second behind the juggernaut that is Black Panther.

That Ryan Coogler-directed blockbuster maintained its box office dominance for the fourth week running, adding about $41 million to its domestic earnings, above analysts expectations of $35 million, and raising its cumulative ticket sales to $562 million, according to the measurement firm ComScore.

On Saturday, the film surpassed the $1 billion mark globally, the 16th Disney release to reach that milestone and the fifth Marvel Cinematic Universe picture to do so. The other Marvel movies to gross more than a billion dollars at the box office are The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Iron Man 3 and Captain America: Civil War.

“Every movie that has opened in the wake of Black Panther has had its work cut out for it,” says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “We keep underestimating this film and it just shows no sign of slowing down.”

Debuting in second place, Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time came in soft with about $33 million. The film got mixed reviews, getting a B rating from audience polling firm CinemaScore and a 42 percent positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

PG- rated A Wrinkle in Time was directed by Ava DuVernay and stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and Chris Pine. It’s based on the 1962 novel by Madeleine L’Engle about a young girl who explores the cosmos in search of her father.

Also new over the weekend, Aviron Pictures Strangers: Prey at Night opened in third place with $10.4 million.

Now in its second week, the Jennifer Lawrence-led spy thriller Red Sparrow from Fox came in fourth, adding $8.5 million to its earnings, a 52 percent decline, for a cumulative $31.4 million gross.

Rounding out the top five: Warner Bros.’ Game Night, now in its third week, which earned about $7.9 million for a cumulative $45 million.

The only other newcomer in the top 10, Entertainment Studios $40 million action thriller The Hurricane Heist, debuted at No. 9 with about $3 million.

STX Entertainment and Amazons Studios’ R- rated comedy Gringo premiered with $2.7 million. The R-rated action flick stars David Oyelowo, Charlize Theron, Joel Edgerton, Thandie Newton and Amanda Seyfried. It was unpopular with audiences and critics, earning a C-plus rating on CinemaScore and a 39 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Focus Features’ Thoroughbreds opened with $1.2 million in 549 theaters. The film earned an 86 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Academy Award best-picture winner The Shape of Water, which is also available on home video, capitalized on its post-Oscars stature. The Fox Searchlight film added 720 theaters and took in about $2.3 million from 1,552 locations, bringing its domestic total to about $61 million.