Ready player one

Ready player one

APRIL 2 UPDATE: Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One made a strong start at the North American box office this weekend, easily taking the number one spot from a slumping Pacific Rim: Uprising.

Spielberg’s Warner Bros-distributed outing opened with a confirmed $41.8m from the three-day weekend and $53.7m since its Thursday opening. The take was in line with expectations for the sci-fi adventure with a reported budget of $150m-$175m.

Ready Player One opened internationally with $127.5m, giving the nostalgic, effects-heavy adaptation of a 2011 novel a global weekend total of $169.3m and a running total of $181.2m.

Last weekend’s top film, action sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising, distributed by Legendary Entertainment, dropped to number five on the chart with a confirmed $9.4m (for a domestic total of $45.8m), more than 66% down on its opening weekend take.

The weekend’s other new release, Tyler Perry’s Acrimony, opened better than expected with $17.2m, giving multi-hyphenate Perry and his longtime distributor Lionsgate another box office success. The thriller stars Taraji P Henson, from Hidden Figures and TV’s Empire.

Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther continued its strong run, sliding by less than 33% to take a confirmed $11.5m, pushing the film’s domestic total to $650.9m.

Though Easter is not a national holiday in the US, the weekend’s religious significance seemed to work for I Can Only Imagine, with the Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions faith-based drama adding screens and dropping just 23% in its third weekend to take a confirmed $10.4m. With a domestic total of $55.3m, the film becomes the highest grossing release ever for Roadside Attractions, beating the $47.7m taken by Manchester By The Sea last year.

Just outside the top 10, another faith-based release, Pure Flix’s God’s Not Dead: A Light In The Darkness, opened with a confirmed $2.7m.

Box office for the top 12 generated $120.9m, up 5% on last weekend but down 26% on the comparable session in 2017 (which was not Easter weekend) when The Boss Baby made a strong chart-topping debut.

This week’s wide releases are: Universal’s raunchy comedy Blockers; Paramount’s horror thriller and recent SXSW opener A Quiet Place; drama The Miracle Season, from Mirror/LD; and Entertainment Studios’ thriller Chappaquiddick.

Confirmed top 10 North America March 30-April 1, 2018
Film (Dist) / Conf wkd gross / Conf total to date

1 (-) Ready Player One (Warner Bros) Warner Bros International $41.8m $53.7m

2 (-) Tyler Perry’s Acrimony (Lionsgate) Lionsgate International $17.2m -

3 (2) Black Panther (Buena Vista) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International $11.5m $650.9m

4 (3) I Can Only Imagine (Roadside Attractions) Mission Pictures International $10.4m $55.3m

5 (1) Pacific Rim: Uprising (Universal-Legendary Entertainment) Universal Pictures International $9.4m $45.8m

6 (4) Sherlock Gnomes (Paramount-MGM) Paramount Pictures International $7m $22.8m

7 (5) Tomb Raider (Warner Bros) Warner Bros Pictures International / MGM $4.9m $50.7m

8 (6) A Wrinkle In Time (Buena Vista) Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International $4.8m $83.4m

9 (7) Love, Simon (Fox) Fox International $4.8m $32.1m

10 (8) Paul, Apostle Of Christ (Sony Pictures) Sony Pictures Releasing International $3.5m $11.5m