“Beauty and the Beast” Continues Its Spell

By Kip Mooney • On • In Weekend Box Office Report Weekend Box Office Report 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT

March 24-26, 2017

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

 

TOP 5

Beauty and the Beast  $88.3 million
Power Rangers $40.5 million
Kong: Skull Island $14.4 million
Life $12.6 million
Logan $10.1 million

 

Beauty and the Beast continued its fairy tale sweep of the box office, taking in an estimated $88.3 million in its second weekend. That's the fourth-biggest second weekend of all time, just behind the only three films to ever top $100 million in their second weekends: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World and The Avengers. In just 10 days, the Disney remake has put more than $100 million between it and the next biggest film of 2016 (Logan). It's likely to be one of the few films to ever top $400 million domestically. It's doing just as well overseas, where it's sure to become one of the even smaller group of films to cross $1 billion.

Power Rangers was even mightier than expected. The reboot of Saban's '90s phenomenon debuted with $40.5 million, which is more than the 1995 film made in its entire run. Though it received mixed reviews, the film obviously clicked with its nostalgic audience, as well as a younger generation of moviegoers who weren't even born when the original show was on the air.

Kong: Skull Island slipped to No. 3 and while it's certainly made some noise, it has to look weak when tiny horror movies like Split and Get Out have beaten it. Although it did slam down Life. The sci-fi/horror flick only managed $12.6 million, which is not a promising start for such a heavily promoted movie. It would have been interesting to see how it would have done had it stayed at its Memorial Day Weekend opening, but it moved up once the highly similar Alien: Covenant did. Logan continued its dominance, finally crossing $200 million.

Outside the top 5:

  • This Weekend's Indie Champ: I Called Him Morgan, a documentary on jazz legend Lee Morgan, who was murdered by his wife during a gig. The film took in $14,454 on its lone screen.
  • CHiPs didn't have any reason to celebrate this weekend. The adaptation of the '70s cop show didn't join the ranks of 21 Jump Street and Starsky and Hutch, turning in a putrid $7.6 million.
  • Slamma Jamma couldn't make its tagline ("Believe and You Will Soar") a reality. The basketball drama fell flat on its face, earning a mere $1.6 million.

Next week: The Boss Baby takes on Ghost in the Shell. While both could easily top $20 million, but neither will beat Beauty and the Beast. That will make at least $40 million in its third weekend.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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