March no longer quiet month for the movies

FOR so long, March came in like a CGI lion and went out like an animated lamb. The month was often a safe space to open such kiddie fare as Fox/Blue Sky’s animal cartoons and handily win an audience.

But that was before dark comic books, apocalyptic visions and adapted live-action Disney flicks moved in and took up residence. It was precisely a decade ago that Zack Snyder’s R-rated and bloody 300, adapted from Frank Miller’s comic, had a domestic opening weekend of $70.9 million – then the biggest March debut (not adjusting for inflation).

Three years later, Disney hit it huge, as Tim Burton’s live-action-plus-CGI Alice in Wonderland had a massive $116.1m opening. Two years later, The Hunger Games – the first film in the dystopian series – debuted to $152.6m. Then last year, Snyder took back the March crown, as another comics-spawned film, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, had the biggest March bowr, with $166m. This year, all those paths to early-season success are converging.

Last week, Fox’s comics-adapted Logan grossed $88.4m in its domestic debut. The studio has five of the 20 biggest March openings – but the Wolverine film represents the only one that is live-action.

Two years ago, Disney’s live-action Cinderella opened to $67.9m in March. Now, some industry experts are wondering whether the Mouse House’s live-action Beauty and the Beast can open on Friday at a figure approaching twice that figure.

Meanwhile, a different sort of beast/beauty story, Warner Bros’s Kong: Skull Island, won the weekend with a $61m opening, according to studio estimates on Sunday; final numbers are due later this week. Although Kong topped early expectations, that total still represents only the 11th-best March debut. (The film has a $185m production budget to boot and might need to top the $500m mark worldwide to be considered a success.) In some years, a March Kong might have some open room to roam. But Logan – with a second weekend of $37.9m – has grossed $152.7m domestically. And Warner Bros’s Lego Batman Movie ($7.8m) continues to have legs in March.

Plus, Power Rangers, The Boss Baby and Ghost in the Shell have yet to open this month.

Meanwhile, one other genre that used to have some box-office elbow room in March – horror (Dawn of the Dead, The Haunting in Connecticut, Resident Evil) – continues to be well-represented with one of the breakout success stories of the year.

Get Out, which opened at the end of last month, just had a $21m weekend – and has now grossed $111m domestically on a mere $4.5m budget.

March might be one crowded corridor these days, but originality can still win out.