Its Presidents Day weekend, and Hollywood offered audiences everything from a weirdo horror movie to an Ice Cube comedy to Matt Damon fighting monsters, but it turns out they just wanted to see more Batman.
Warner Bros. won the holiday stretch as “The Lego Batman Movie” roped in $34.2 million. The audience drop was only 35% which indicates it’s gonna hold on at the multiplex for a while, and the picture will cross $100 million domestic this week. Now the only question is how long we’re going to have to wait for the inevitable sequel, because you know studio suits are going to be eager for that to happen.
READ MORE: Ice Cube & Charlie Day Fail To Land A Comedic Punch In ‘Fist Fight’ [Review]
Leading the field of newcomers, none of which fared too well, was Zhang Yimou‘s bid for China/Hollywood blockbuster crossover in “The Great Wall.” The film, which has already scored over $240 million internationally (most it in China, natch) only managed $18 million this weekend. That’s not even close to what Matt Damon debuts with in the Jason Bourne movies, and you’d have to go back to 2011’s “The Adjustment Bureau” for similar figures. That movie wound up with $62 million domestic, but it was also far better received critically, so don’t expect the same to happen with “The Great Wall.”
“Fifty Shades Darker” fell -56.3% in week two which is very good compared to “Fifty Shades Of Grey” which tumbled a massive -73.9% in 2015. While ‘Darker’ ($46.6M) couldn’t match the massive opening weekend of its forerunner ($85.1k), the sequel is still pacing well domestically: hitting around the same numbers as the inaugural film did in week two.
Falling in the middle of the top ten was “Fist Fight,” which paired up Ice Cube and Charlie Day for an R-rated comedy. Earning $12 million, it’s well off the $41 million and $35 million launches of “Ride Along” and “Ride Along 2,” which opened in a similar early year frame, and you have to wonder if WB might be regretting going full raunch for this movie. Also, maybe it’s time Hollywood stopped trying to make Charlie Day happen.
READ MORE: Zhang Yimou’s ‘The Great Wall’ Is Pretty Fun And So, So Dumb [Review]
Meanwhile, tanking quite hard, Gore Verbinski‘s gorgeous looking, scary bore “A Cure For Wellness” clung onto the bottom of the top ten with $4.2 million. The movie, which cost $40 million, is the worst debut of the director’s career, and in this climate, probably the last time he’ll be given big money to go make whatever he wants (until he has another hit, anyway). And while logic would follow that perhaps studios might hire him to step back into the franchise world where he’s seen big totals for his movies, it’s worth remembering that his ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ pictures and “The Lone Ranger” were plagued with rumors of going wildly overbudget. My guess? Verbinksi is going to do something “The Weather Man“-sized next.
Oscar mettle? “La La Land‘ is at a whopping $340 million worldwide right now, and that’s likely to grow if it comes away with plenty of Oscar trophies on Sunday. The movie took in $12 million on opening day in China too, an amazing figure. The second highest grossing territory internationally behind the U.K.? South Korea where it has grossed a whopping $23.9 million. “La La Land” is South Korea’s 15th highest earning film for 2016 and has outgrossed “Deadpool,” “X-Men: Apocalypse,” “Jason Bourne,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad” and other major blockbusters.
1. “The Lego Batman Movie” — $34.2 million ($98.7 mil.)
2. “Fifty Shades Darker” — $20.9 million ($89.6 mil.)
3. “The Great Wall” — $18 million
4. “John Wick: Chapter 2” — $16.5 million ($58.6 mil.)
5. “Fist Fight” — $12 million
6. “Hidden Figures” — $7.1 million ($142.5 mil.)
7. “Split” — $7 million ($123.6 mil.)
8. “A Dog’s Purpose” — $5.5 million ($50.6 mil.)
9. “La La Land” — $4.5 million ($133.5 mil.)
10. “A Cure For Wellness” — $4.2 million