Saturday Update: Ready Player One rang up an estimated $15.2 million on Friday, per Warner Bros. That brings the Steven Spielberg/Ernest Cline adaptation up to a healthy $27.205 million domestically through two days of release. The studio reports that $1.825 million of Friday’s take came from IMAX venues.
Overall, RPO‘s two-day tally stands 5 percent ahead of G.I. Joe: Retaliation‘s $25.83 million, which was the most recent film before this to open on the Thursday before Good Friday/Easter weekend. With largely positive reviews and encouraging word of mouth, Spielberg’s latest crowd-pleaser could be on course to bring in $40 million or more during its three-day weekend, which would give it an overall four-day bow of $52 million+.
Internationally, RPO scored $28.2 million on Friday for a running three-day cume of $42.6 million. That includes a $14 million opening day in China (including Thursday sneaks). China’s flash estimates for Saturday put RPO at $25.2 million for the day, which would bring the two-day Chinese total to $39.2 million.
Tyler Perry’s Acrimony earned $7.26 million on opening day in second place, marking the latest success for Perry and star Taraji P. Henson. For the closest comparison, the film’s opening day came in 23 percent less than Perry’s Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, which opened to $9.405 million on Good Friday in 2013. For the weekend, we now expect Acrimony to register around a very respectable $16.7 million.
Black Panther continues to roll with another $4.07 million through the turnstile on Friday, bringing its domestic tally to $643.5 million. We’re expecting a weekend slightly over $11 million.
I Can Only Imagine added another $3.67 million yesterday, down less than 3.5 percent from last Friday as it now stands at an excellent $48.5 million through 15 days of release — 27 percent ahead of the pace of The Shack. Look for a weekend close to $10.5 million.
Pacific Rim: Uprising rounded out the top five by adding $3.3 million on Friday, off 68 percent from last Friday’s opening day. The sequel has earned $39.8 million through eight days of domestic release and looks to be on target for around $9 million this weekend.
Sherlock Gnomes claimed sixth to begin its sophomore frame with $3.015 million yesterday and an eight-day cume of $18.84 million. This weekend looks to land around $7.5 million.
Paul, Apostle of Christ closed out the top ten on Friday with $1.22 million, giving it $9.25 million through eight days. A sophomore weekend around $3.5 million appears likely.
Debuting amid stiff faith-based competition, God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness fell a bit shy of pre-release forecasts with an estimated $1.135 million opening day, about 61 percent below the $2.93 million opening day of God’s Not Dead 2 in 2016. Strong Saturday and Sunday business could prove beneficial to the second sequel, though for now we’re projecting a debut weekend around $3.5 million.
Meanwhile, Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs added $944,000 from 165 locations on Friday for an eight-day running total of $4.05 million. Fox projects the weekend will tune up $2.8 million.
A mix of our own and official studio estimates can be found below. Check back on Sunday for updated estimates from all studios.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, MAR. 30 – SUN, APR. 1
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ready Player One | $40,500,000 | — | 4,234 | — | $9,565 | $52,505,000 | 1 | Warner Bros. / DreamWorks |
| 2 | Tyler Perry’s Acrimony | $16,700,000 | — | 2,006 | — | $8,325 | $16,700,000 | 1 | Lionsgate |
| 3 | Black Panther | $11,200,000 | -35% | 2,988 | -382 | $3,748 | $650,636,634 | 7 | Disney |
| 4 | I Can Only Imagine | $10,500,000 | -23% | 2,648 | 395 | $3,965 | $55,325,337 | 3 | Roadside Attractions |
| 5 | Pacific Rim Uprising | $9,100,000 | -68% | 3,708 | 0 | $2,454 | $45,565,820 | 2 | Universal |
| 6 | Sherlock Gnomes | $7,500,000 | -29% | 3,662 | 0 | $2,048 | $23,320,646 | 2 | Paramount / MGM |
| 7 | Love, Simon | $5,000,000 | -34% | 2,024 | -410 | $2,470 | $32,340,794 | 3 | 20th Century Fox |
| 8 | A Wrinkle in Time | $5,000,000 | -39% | 2,367 | -1056 | $2,112 | $83,556,414 | 4 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| 9 | Tomb Raider | $4,600,000 | -54% | 2,788 | -1066 | $1,650 | $50,402,178 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| 10 | Paul, Apostle of Christ | $3,500,000 | -32% | 1,473 | 0 | $2,376 | $11,530,838 | 2 | Sony Pictures Entertainment |
| 11 | God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness | $3,500,000 | — | 1,693 | — | $2,067 | $3,500,000 | 1 | Pure Flix |
| 12 | Game Night | $2,500,000 | -39% | 1,335 | -531 | $1,873 | $65,037,294 | 6 | Warner Bros. |
| 13 | Peter Rabbit | $2,400,000 | -5% | 1,667 | -404 | $1,440 | $111,046,126 | 8 | Sony / Columbia |
| 14 | Midnight Sun | $2,000,000 | -50% | 2,128 | -45 | $940 | $7,849,216 | 2 | Open Road |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle of Dogs | $2,800,000 | 73% | 165 | 138 | $16,970 | $5,907,274 | 2 | Fox Searchlight |
| 2 | The Greatest Showman | $770,000 | 11% | 764 | 286 | $1,008 | $172,139,661 | 15 | Fox |
| 3 | Baaghi 2 | $700,000 | — | 123 | — | $5,691 | $700,000 | 1 | FIP |
| 4 | Red Sparrow | $680,000 | -70% | 508 | -974 | $1,339 | $45,640,772 | 5 | 20th Century Fox |
| 5 | Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle | $675,000 | -20% | 783 | -239 | $862 | $402,765,739 | 15 | Sony / Columbia |
| 6 | The Strangers: Prey At Night | $620,000 | -70% | 537 | -943 | $1,155 | $23,534,376 | 4 | Aviron Pictures |
| 7 | Annihilation | $325,000 | -64% | 243 | -235 | $1,337 | $32,137,971 | 6 | Paramount Pictures |
| 8 | Coco | $73,000 | -37% | 120 | -24 | $608 | $209,498,871 | 19 | Disney |
| 9 | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | $72,000 | -29% | 109 | -41 | $661 | $620,102,903 | 16 | Disney |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Getting Grace | $27,000 | -74% | 15 | -45 | $1,800 | $27,000 | 2 | Hannover House |
| 2 | The Hurricane Heist | $23,000 | -78% | 36 | -92 | $639 | $6,077,254 | 4 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
| 3 | Hostiles | $15,000 | -32% | 53 | 3 | $283 | $29,785,846 | 15 | Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures |
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Friday Update: Ready Player One scored an estimated $12.005 million opening day on Thursday, including Wednesday night’s $3.75 million early show gross. That lines up with our pre-release expectations as the fan-driven adaptation remains on pace for an opening three-day weekend north of $35 million and a four-day extended opening that could approach $50 million or slightly more.
Internationally, RPO pulled $10.4 million across 37 markets, giving it a running cume of $13.7 million thus far. The film opens in 13 more markets on Friday, including China.
Tyler Perry’s Acrimony got off to a strong start on Thursday evening with an estimated $1 million. By comparison, Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween earned $860,000 back in October 2016, although key comparison films like When the Bough Breaks, No Good Deed, and Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor did not hold Thursday night screenings.
Meanwhile, Pure Flix has not reported or confirmed whether God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness held Thursday night screenings.
Check back throughout the weekend for updated daily estimates and weekend estimates for all titles.
Thursday Report: Warner Bros. and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One registered an estimated $3.75 million from Wednesday night’s opening shows as the film kicks off a debut ahead of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Comparisons are few and far between since this release strategy is very uncommon, though one can most closely look to 2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation. That sequel opened to $2.2 million from Wednesday night shows during its pre-Easter weekend debut, although it should be noted that pre-release day shows weren’t quite as popular five years ago as they now are today.
For reference, Retaliation opened to $10.5 million on Thursday overall, $40.5 million for the standard weekend (Friday through Sunday), and $51 million during its four-day (Thursday through Sunday) opening.
Updates will be posted here as they follow in the days ahead. In the mean time, check out our Weekend Forecast covering RPO and the other openers.
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