M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Split’ easily grabs No. 1
Doubles business of Vin Diesel’s action sequel ‘Xander Cage’
M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Split blew away box-office expectations, earning an estimated $40.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Though many were focused on Friday’s presidential inauguration and Saturday’s Women’s Marches, Split doubled forecasts to easily lead all films.
The PG-13-rated Split, starring James McAvoy as a man with multiple personalities, was made for less than $10 million.
“This is an unusual weekend in our society and a lot of things have been going on that would otherwise divert our attention,” said Nick Carpou, head of distribution for Universal. “A film like this ... can take some advantage of that either as a relief to current events or perhaps as an adjunct to them.”
It’s the second collaboration between producer Jason Blum and Shyamalan, whose career has found a lucrative home with the low-budget horror experts at Blumhouse Productions. They previously combined for 2015’s breakout horror hit The Visit.
Opening in second place was the Vin Diesel action sequel xXx:
The Return of Xander Cage with $20 million. It is faring better overseas, where it took in $50.5 million.
Last weekend’s top film, the stirring mathematician drama Hidden Figures, held on well, sliding to third place with an estimated $16.3 million. The animated Sing, about an animal talent competition, finished fourth with $9 million. And Oscar favorite La
La Land is still going strong with $8.4 million and fifth place in its seventh week.
Despite the weekend’s political events, the North American box office was up 29.2% from the same weekend last year, according to comScore.
“You would think that those events would suck the air out of the room, but that didn’t happen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “The movie theater experience with the right content is irresistible no matter what is going on in the outside world, and in fact may even benefit from so much going on in the outside world.”
The Founder, a new biopic about Ray Kroc of McDonald’s starring Michael Keaton, had more difficulty rounding up an audience. The film launched in 1,100 theaters but gathered only $3.8 million. It will be hoping for an Oscar nomination on Tuesday to help it stand out among the many adult-skewing releases.