The RedState Box Office Report

After a very soft March, where the total box office returns were down year over year, April is beginning with a loud bang. Two new titles raised a commotion by exceeding the whispered estimates, and the holdovers created a stir with respectable returns.

Let’s listen to the ruckus raised by the newbies turning up the volume, and measure how the older titles echoed this weekend

1.  QUIET PLACE – $50.4 Million

A hybrid horror-drama written and directed by John Krasinki (formerly Jim from “The Office”) this has been growing into a surprise. The story of a family fighting to survive from a creature that hunts by sound has been warmly received by critics and audiences have been flocking to see this. (One writer reported this was the first time he heard audience members shushing others, but they were directing that to the characters on screen.) Estimates have been scaled up continually and it still managed to beat the latest projections. Saturday actually saw a larger return than the Friday and sneak totals, indicating a growing interest. Unlike most horror that is opening weekend-reliant this may have a lengthy run.

2. READY PLAYER ONE – $25.06m
A strong hold with only a -40% drop this encourages since it had a relatively softer opening than it needed. The total is edging close to $100m and a lengthy run is needed for the profits to be realized.

3. BLOCKERS – $21.43m
Another debut that exceeded the projection, this defied the trend of R-rated comedies suffering poor performance. John Cena is proving himself adept at comedic roles. It opened a bit better than “Game Night”, which had a respectable successful run, and its screen average was actually higher than “Ready Player One”.

4. BLACK PANTHER – $8.43m
The global smash is still impressive domestically as well. It has now passed “Titanic” for the third highest box office return of all time at $665 million. World wide it has earned a staggering $1.3 million.

5. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE – $8.35m
The faith-based hit continues to impress. It had a meager drop of -20%, actually adding a couple of hundred screens in its fourth week. The $7 million production has now grossed $70 million.

6. TYLER PERRY’S ACRIMONY – $8.06m
A bit of a steep drop over 50% is not shocking, as Perry’s movies traditionally open strong but do not last long. He drew over $30 million to this point, which is respectable at this point for his titles.

7. CHAPPAQUIDDICK – $6.2m
A bit of a better than projected opening for this historical drama, it is actually a surprise that Hollywood even saw fit to have this subject of Ted Kennedy’s infamous car wreck leading to the death of a young woman. It was showing on only 1,500 screens, but the screen average would land it in the top-5.

8. SHERLOCK GNOMES – $5.6m
A rather forgettable kids romp that never found traction with audiences. It lost over 900 screens in just its third week, a sign it will fade from theaters rather soon.

9. PACIFIC RIM UPRISING – $4.91m
Another title severely underperforming, this expensive epic has barely cleared $50m, which is only one-third of its shooting budget. It will be all but forgotten next week with the arrival of Dwayne The Rock Johnson battling monsters in “Rampage”.

10. ISLE OF DOGS – $4.65m
A critically acclaimed stop-action animation from Wes Anderson has drawn some impressive audiences. It makes the top-10 while showing on only 550 screens, earning the second-highest screen average. It goes into wide release next weekend.

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