Cloverfield creeps up box-office ladder
Moviegoers didn’t have much to go on with the mysterious 10 Cloverfield Lane, but the words Cloverfield and “J.J. Abrams” were enough. The Abrams-produced monster movie, a so-called “spiritual successor” to 2008’s found-footage hit Cloverfield, opened with a better-thanexpected $25.2 million (U.S.), based on studio estimates Sunday. That was good enough for second place to the Disney animated hit Zootopia, which stayed on top with $50 million in its second week, a slide of only 33 per cent from its opening weekend.
The weekend’s biggest disappointment, though, was Sacha Baron Cohen’s Brothers Grimsby, which flopped with a mere $3.2 million. Taking in $83.1 million internationally over the weekend, Zootopia has already made more than $430 million globally.
The directorial debut of Dan Trachtenberg, 10 Cloverfield Lane, arrived with the opposite kind of hoopla that preceded Abrams’ previous film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The release of 10 Cloverfield Lane, made for about $13 million, wasn’t advertised much until an ominous Super Bowl spot.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. Zootopia, $50 million. 2. 10 Cloverfield Lane, $25.2 million. 3. Deadpool, $10.8 million. 4. London Has Fallen, $10.7 million. 5. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, $4.6 million. 6. The Perfect Match, $4.2 million. 7. The Young Messiah, $3.4 million. 8. The Brothers Grimsby, $3.2 million. 9. Gods of Egypt, $2.5 million. 10. Risen, $2.3 million.