Disney not only won the box office for the weekend, but also set a studio record in the process.
After three straight weeks at the top of the charts, ‘Deadpool’ was booted by a family film that’s bound to retain the #1 spot for at least two more weeks. Disney’s ‘Zootopia‘ opened to an extremely impressive $73.7 million. That total is enough to earn it the highest March debut of all time, and it’s also the best ever opening for a Disney Animation Studios picture. Playing on 3,827 screens, it finished with a $19,258 per-screen average. Combined with the $158.8 million earned overseas over the last four weeks, ‘Zootopia’ already has $232.5 million in the bank.
Despite brutal reviews and sequel fatigue, ‘London Has Fallen‘ performed quite well over its opening weekend. From nearly 3,500 locations, the ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ follow-up pulled in $21.7 million and finished in second place. The $60 million action flick has yet to open overseas, but is off to a good domestic start.
‘Deadpool‘ finished its fourth week in third place. Another $16.4 million pushed the film’s domestic total over the $300 million hump, making it the third R-rated movie to ever do so. Combined with $362 million in international income, Fox’s gritty comic book movie now has a worldwide total of $673.2 million.
Of the weekend’s three big new releases, the only one to perform below expectations was Tina Fey’s wartime journalism dramedy ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot‘. From 2,374 screens, the $35 million film only grossed $7.6 million, resulting in a mediocre $3,201 per-screen average. Its international run has yet to kick off.
Rounding out the Top 5 was last week’s bomb ‘Gods of Egypt‘. Dropping a nasty 65% in attendance (according the director, the blame is entirely on the critics), there’s no chance for the $140 million CG train wreck to become profitable over its theatrical run. The $5 million second weekend brought its ten-day total up to $22.8 million. Overseas, it has earned $49.6 million, giving it a worldwide total of $72.4 million.
Broad Green acquired the latest Terrence Malick drama, ‘Knight of Cups‘, and released it on four screens so far. The film debuted decently to $56,688 and a per-screen average of $14,172, so you can expect to see it expand over the new few weeks.
Top 10:
1. ‘Zootopia’ (Buena Vista) – $73,700,000
2. ‘London Has Fallen’ (Focus) – $21,714,000
3. ‘Deadpool’ (Fox) – $16,400,000
4. ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ (Paramount) – $7,600,000
5. ‘Gods of Egypt’ (Lionsgate) – $5,000,000
6. ‘Risen’ (Sony) – $3,885,000
7. ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ (Fox) – $3,525,000
8. ‘The Revenant’ (Fox) – $3,325,000
9. ‘Eddie the Eagle’ (Fox) – $3,100,000
10. ‘The Witch’ (A24) – $2,509,453
