By Lindsey Bahr, Film Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --T'Challa still rules the box office four weeks in, even with the fresh rivalry of another Walt Disney Studios release in "A Wrinkle in Time."
"Black Panther" took the No. 1 spot at the North American box office with $41.1 million according to studio estimates Sunday, leaving another newcomer in its wake. The Marvel and Disney phenomenon crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide this weekend and became the 7th highest grossing domestic release with $562 million. Not accounting for inflation, it's now passed "The Dark Knight."
With a marketplace still dominated by "Black Panther," Disney faced some stiff competition from its own studio in launching Ava DuVernay's adaption of "A Wrinkle in Time," which opened in second place with $33.3 million from 3,980 locations. The PG-rated film, which cost around $103 million to produce and stars Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon, received mixed reviews from critics (it's currently at a "rotten" 44 percent on RottenTomatoes) and audiences who gave it a B CinemaScore.
In gauging "A Wrinkle in Time's" long-term prospects, a somewhat similar comparison could be Disney's "Tomorrowland," a PG-rated sci-fi pic with middling reviews and a B CinemaScore which opened to $33 million in the early summer of 2015 and went on to gross $93 million domestically. "Tomorrowland," however, notably cost nearly twice as much to make as "A Wrinkle in Time."
But the "Black Panther" effect is the x-factor here. For Disney, it's a "win all around."
"When you think about having two films at the top of the box office, it's definitely a win all around," says Disney's worldwide theatrical distribution president Dave Hollis. "We're feeling good about this start … We're feeling good about what, for us, is a little family competition between now and (the Easter holiday)."
Hollis says he doesn't think the studio would have done anything differently regarding "Wrinkle's" release had they known the scope and longevity of "Black Panther's" prospects.
"There's always going to be competition in the marketplace," he says. "With a tentpole strategy like ours, four weeks of separation is about what we can expect."
Still, "Black Panther" has devoured the marketplace for a month straight now, leaving all other newcomers in the dust.
The new horror film "The Strangers: Prey At Night," with Christina Hendricks, took third place with $10.5 million. The Jennifer Lawrence thriller "Red Sparrow" landed in fourth in its second weekend with $8.2 million and the comedy "Game Night" placed fifth with $7.9 million in weekend three.
Hardly any of the new releases, which also included the thriller "The Hurricane Heist" (8th place, $3.2 million) and the dark action comedy "Gringo," (11th place, $2.6 million) were well-reviewed going into the weekend, save for the limited release independents like "Thoroughbreds," which made $1.2 million from 549 locations, and Armando Iannucci's "The Death of Stalin," which opened in four theaters to $181,000.
It also left room for the Academy Award best picture winner "The Shape of Water," which is also available on home video, to capitalize on its post-Oscars stature. The Fox Searchlight film added 720 theaters and took in in $2.4 million from 1,552 locations, bringing its domestic total to $61 million.
But even though "Black Panther" has helped boost the year to date box office significantly, it's also proving to be a continued challenge for any other wide release hoping for a piece of the market.
"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."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1."Black Panther," $41.1 million ($100 million international).
2."A Wrinkle in Time," $33.3 million ($6.3 million international).
3."The Strangers: Prey At Night," $10.5 million ($140,000 international).
4."Red Sparrow," $8.2 million ($15.7 million international).
5."Game Night," $7.9 million ($5.4 million international).
6."Peter Rabbit," $6.8 million ($4.8 million international).
7."Death Wish," $6.6 million ($3 million international).
8."The Hurricane Heist," $3.2 million ($1.9 million international).
9."Annihilation," $3.2 million.
10."Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle," $2.8 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to comScore:
1. "Black Panther," $100 million.
2. "Operation Red Sea," $23.8 million.
3. "Red Sparrow," $15.7 million.
4. "Tomb Raider," $14.1 million.
5. "The Shape of Water," $11.3 million.
6. "Detective Chinatown 2," $11.2 million.
7. "Une Jolie Ch'tite Famille," $8.8 million.
8. "Amazing China," $8.1 million.
9. "Bajrangi Bhaijaan," $8 million.
10. "A Wrinkle in Time," $6.3 million.
Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More