I really do not think there was anything surprising about who came in first this weekend or by how much. A lot of big numbers are being thrown around with ‘impressive’ or ‘record’ in front of them, but was the Weekend Box Office #1 film really that big?
#1 – Captain Marvel
Everybody saw this one coming. Captain Marvel was pretty much the only box office draw for this weekend. Marvel brought in a very nice $153 million over its opening weekend. This is a great total, but not as great as it may seem. Some thought it might reach $160 million, but $153 is pretty close. Captain Marvel is the third highest grossing film in March and only ranks 7th amongst all 21 MCU films.
The big achievement that is being thrown around is its high world wide numbers. These mean very little as most movies do not sync their world wide releases to the same weekends. Films have had incredibly high international numbers, but it will never make news because the openings across the globe were scattered over months.
#2 – How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
In its third week in release, HtTYD managed a respectable $14.7 million. The 51% drop in week three is a bit steeper that one would like to see, but against Captain Marvel, it is solid. HtTYD has nearly hit its budget in the first three weeks of its domestic run alone. It should have good legs to keep up its box office run at least until the end of the month.
#3 – A Madea Family Funeral
Family Funeral brought in $12 million over the weekend, but that adds up to a sizable drop of 55% in week two. It survived this week as the only real non-Marvel option, but look for it to fall fast in the weeks ahead.
#4 – Lego Movie 2
At this point it doesn’t really matter who went to the movies as the box office takes are very low. Lego 2 could only manage $3.8 million in its fifth week. It will hopefully cross the $100 million mark next weekend.
#5 – Alita Battle Angel
Finally in fifth place we have Alita with $3.2 million. It dropped a hefty 56% in its fourrth Weekend Box Office haul, but being in direct competition with Captain Marvel, it was expected. This little film continues to push hard for its sequel opportunity as it passes $382.6 million globally. Its success definitely lays in the hands of the over seas movie goer.
Next Weekend
Next weekend three new movies hit the big screens. We have the Sci/fi movie Captive State, the heartbreaking romance Five Feet Apart, and the animated kid’s movie Wonder Park.
In such a weak field after first place, look for all three of these films to do okay, but none will come close to Captain Marvel in her second week. I think one of the most interesting watches will be How To Train Your Dragon 3 and how it fares against Wonder Park.