IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Photos and text from wire services ComScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the performance of “Ready Player One” should be judged in the context of the marketplace, which is down significantly (24.1 percent) from last March and has seen nearly every film since “Black Panther” open in the “middling to good range.”

“None of them have set the world on fire,” Dergarabedian said. “We’re living in a world where a $52.3 million gross for the first four days is a really good number.”

“Tyler Perry’s Acrimony” took second place. Driven by an overwhelmingly female audience, the film starring Taraji P. Henson grossed $17.1 million over the 3-day weekend, followed by “Black Panther” in third place with $11.3 million.

With $650.7 million in domestic grosses, “Black Panther” is poised to pass “Jurassic World’s” $652 million to become the fourth highest grossing domestic release of all time.

A batch of faith-based films also competed for attention leading up to the Easter holiday, including “I Can Only Imagine,” which scored again with $10.8 million to take fourth place. It outshined “Paul, Apostle of Christ,” which earned $3.5 million in weekend two and the new opener, “God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness,” which stumbled with $2.6 million. Even Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs,” playing in only 165 locations, beat “God’s Not Dead 3” with $2.8 million.

WARNER BROS. PICTURES VIA AP This cover image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows characters Aech, left, and Parzival in a scene from “Ready Player One,” a film by Steven Spielberg.