1. Get Out (review) - $30.5M
135 critic review on Rotten Tomatoes, 135 positive. That is a nearly impossible feat nowadays but it's been achieved by Jordan Peele's horror-comedy, or "social thriller", Get Out. And now you can add box office champ to its credentials. Opening with a stellar $30.5M, the film continues what has been a strong start for horror movies, following on the $140M+ haul of Split. This is one of those cases where word of mouth has been paramount, beginning with the buzz generated by its secret screening at Sundance, which is where I saw it for the first time. Since then the anticipation has mounted and now you can barely find a ticket to see it during the opening weekend. The strong reviews will likely carry it far but there is some seriously stiff competition next week when Logan arrives. How it holds will tell us much about its long term prospects.
2. The LEGO Batman Movie- $18.4M/$132.4M
3. John Wick: Chapter 2- $8.6M/$74M
4. Fifty Shades Darker- $8.1M/$104M
5. The Great Wall- $8M/$33.7M
Don't feel bad for Matt Damon, the super expensive The Great Wall has $256M worldwide, a lot of that coming from China, which makes sense. This would look a lot better if it didn't cost $150M, but whatever.
6. Hidden Figures- $5.7M/$152.6M
7. Fist Fight- $5.6M/$22.4M
8. La La Land- $4.5M/$140.7M
9. Split- $4.3M/$131M
10. Rock Dog (review)- $3.9M
Another Chinese production that went nowhere (Hey, the Great Wall won't have to feel lonely) is the animated Rock Dog. The $60M (!!!) film earned $3.9M which is pretty darn awful for an animated movie here. But what's worse is that it didn't even do well in China. The film centers on a talking dog who wants to become a rock star (duh), and features the voices of Luke Wilson, Eddie Izzard, and others who aren't really box office draws. You have to try pretty hard to tank this bad on a 'toon, that's all I'm saying.
The other new wide release was the oft-delayed, always forgettable action flick, Collide, which boasted some of the worst TV spot I've ever seen. Formerly known as Autobahn, it has one of those casts that, in a certain light, can look awesome. But in a different light can scream B-movie sludge. Not even the likes of Nicholas Hoult, Felicity Jones (fresh from 'Rogue One' no less), Ben Kingsley, and Anthony Hopkins could draw more than $1.5M. Why this didn't go straight to VOD is beyond me.
