Weekend Box Office Report: March 2-4, 2018

Black Panther is still the king!

The fierce warriors of Wakanda remained in control at the box office as BLACK PANTHER once again took the lead this weekend with an estimated $65.7 million!

Dropping only 41% from last week, the third weekend for Marvel's first solo adventure of the African superhero was behind only the third weekends of AVATAR ($69 million) and STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS ($90 million), both of which had the benefit of the New Year's holiday on their third weekend.

BLACK PANTHER has accumulated an epic $501.1 million domestic total after 17 days in theaters, already making it the tenth-highest grossing domestic release in history.

Aside from the $623 million domestic finish of A-list assemblage THE AVENGERS, Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa is also the greatest champion in Marvel's Cinematic Universe, passing the totals of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON ($459 million), IRON MAN 3 ($409 million) and CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR ($408 million).

Director Ryan Coogler's crowd-pleasing phenomenon has also grabbed $396 million internationally for a worldwide total of nearly $900 million.

Opening in second place was the new spy movie RED SPARROW with $17 million.

The R-rated espionage drama with Jennifer Lawrence cost a reported $69 million. For Lawrence's starring roles (besides the HUNGER GAMES series), it was on par with the $17 million opening of JOY in 2015 and ahead of the Chris Pratt space-romance PASSENGERS, which had a first weekend of $14.8 million in 2016.

Lawrence's secret agent earned an additional $26.5 million from overseas crowds for a worldwide opening weekend of $43.5 million. Her reunion with three-time HUNGER GAMES director Francis Lawrence didn't provide satisfying thrills for many critics, leading to an average of 51% on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

In third place was the new remake of DEATH WISH with an opening of $13 million.

Director Eli Roth's retelling of the 1974 Charles Bronson revenge thriller cost a reported $30 million. The R-rated vigilante story is the first leading role for Bruce Willis to hit theaters since the sequel RED 2, which opened with $18 million in 2013 (the actor has been busy filling his schedule with direct-to-video fare like PRECIOUS CARGO and FIRST KILL over the past few years).

Scripted by Joe Carnahan and again based on Brian Garfield's 1972 novel, the DEATH WISH update was originally scheduled for release last November but was shifted after the Las Vegas mass shooting (only to end up in theaters shortly after yet another mass shooting).

Critics thought the latest version should be locked away with a 15% average on Rotten Tomatoes. You can set your sights on the JoBlo review HERE.

The R-rated comedy GAME NIGHT was in fourth with $10.7 million, dropping only 37% from last week's opening. The $37 million Jason Bateman/Rachel McAdams mystery has a ten-day domestic total of $33.5 million and a worldwide total of $49.5 million.

In fifth place was live-action/animated hybrid PETER RABBIT with $10 million, bringing the $50 million family feature to a domestic total of $84 million on its fourth weekend of release.

The sci-fi thriller ANNIHILATION was in sixth with $5.6 million, down by 49% from its opening last week for a ten-day domestic total of $20 million. EX MACHINA writer-director Alex Garland's $55 million adaptation of the popular Jeff VanderMeer novel gets release on Netflix for the rest of the world on February 23rd.

The PG-13 adventure JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE persisted in seventh place with $4.5 million as it stretches for the $400 million domestic mark. The Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson/Kevin Hart/Jack Black/Karen Gillan sequel has a worldwide total of $928 million (on a $90 million reported cost).

In eighth was romance trilogy-ender FIFTY SHADES FREED with $3.3 million for $95.5 million domestic and $346 million worldwide. Hugh Jackman's THE GREATEST SHOWMAN followed in ninth with $2.6 million, and teen drama EVERY DAY closed out the list.

Outside the chart, Clint Eastwood's terrorism tale THE 15:17 TO PARIS stalled and Aardman's animated EARLY MAN went extinct. Oscar contender THE SHAPE OF WATER has reached $126 million worldwide and fellow nominee THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI is up to a global total of $131 million.

Next week has several new offerings including Disney's big-budget sci-fi/fantasy A WRINKLE IN TIME, masked horror sequel THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT, director Rob Cohen's action flick THE HURRICANE HEIST, and the dark comedy GRINGO.

What is your favorite remake of a 1970s movie? VOTE HERE!