‘Split’ Tracking to be First $100M Hit of 2017
M. Night Shyamalan’s Split was the clear winner for the second weekend in a row at the box office. The James McAvoy thriller grossed an estimated $25.7 million over the weekend.
It appears more sooner than later that 2017 will see its first film over $100 million. Down a mere 35.9% from last weekend, Split is everything that defies the typical January thriller. With latest franchise installments like Underworld: Blood Wars and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, seeing a hold like this for a non-Oscar film in January is downright amazing. Word-of-mouth could carry the film a few more weeks, despite competition rapidly approaching. The release of Rings this Friday will prove to be a major test. But don’t rule out a finish around $140 million just yet for the Universal hit.
Despite controversy earlier this month, Universal’s A Dog’s Purpose claimed second place with $18.2 million. The family film was under scrutiny of alleged animal abuse on set after a TMZ video surfaced a while ago. While critics panned the film, audience gave A Dog’s Purpose an A grade on CinemaScore. Without many family-friendly live-action films in the near future, A Dog’s Purpose may end up with a decent multiplier.
Maintaining its third place spot, Hidden Figures grossed another $14 million this weekend. The Best Picture nominee dropped 10.9%, proving its legs once again. As one of the two Best Picture nominees over $100 million, there’s certainly more coming its way. In fact, Hidden Figures also captured the Best Ensemble award at this weekend’s SAG Awards. With momentum on its side, we could still be looking at finish around $150 million.
Just like Underworld: Blood Wars, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter wound up being the lowest-grossing opener of the franchise. Debuting in fourth place, the sixth film opened to $13.6 million over the weekend. That’s a massive drop from the previous film, Resident Evil: Retribution, which opened to $21.1 million in 2012. Negative reviews and a B grade on CinemaScore surely didn’t help matters. Neither did a four-year wait or a release in the wasteland of January.
After garnering a record-breaking 14 Academy Award nominations on Tuesday, La La Land shot up 45% this weekend. In its eighth frame, the Los Angeles musical grossed another $12.2 million. Adding 1,200 theaters into the mix kept the attention on the Best Picture frontrunner. Right now, La La Land has grossed $106.7 million. That’s one of Lionsgate’s best hauls to date. Once it passes $119.2 million, it’ll be the studio’s biggest non-YA adaptation release. That’ll put La La Land only behind all four Hunger Games films, both Divergent films and Breaking Dawn – Part 2.
A Dog’s Purpose opened better than my Friday prediction, while Resident Evil debuted a few notches lower.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – Split (1)
$25.7 million / $77.4 million total
#2 – A Dog’s Purpose (NR)
$18.2 million / $18.2 million total
#3 – Hidden Figures (3)
$14.0 million / $104.0 million total
#4 – Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (NR)
$13.6 million / $13.6 million total
#5 – La La Land (5)
$12.2 million / $106.7 million total
Opening Next Week: Rings, The Space Between Us
Source: Box Office Mojo
