Ready Player One enters the game at #1!
A massive blast of nostalgia was the main attraction at theaters this Easter weekend, putting READY PLAYER ONE on top at the box office with an estimated opening of $41.2 million!
With its Thursday opening day figures included, director Steven Spielberg's eyeball-exhausting trip to the virtual realm had a four-day domestic opening of $53.2 million.
For the filmmaker's recent efforts, that opening was stronger than dramatic fare like THE POST ($19.3 million on its first wide weekend) and BRIDGE OF SPIES ($15.3 million), and scored much bigger than the $18.7 million of 2016 animated fantasy THE BFG. (Spielberg's last huge opening was the $100 million start of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL in 2008.)
The $175 million adaptation of Ernest Cline's novel also downloaded an additional $128 million from international crowds for a global opening of $181.2 million.
Most critics gladly logged in for the PG-13 pop-culture overload with an average of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can check out the JoBlo review right HERE.
Opening in second place was filmmaker Tyler Perry's new thriller TYLER PERRY'S ACRIMONY with $17.1 million.
Tyler Perry's R-rated revenge story with Taraji P. Henson cost a reported $20 million. The opening was right down the middle for Tyler Perry's recent non-Madea output, lower than the $21 million start of TYLER PERRY'S TEMPTATION: CONFESSIONS OF A MARRIAGE COUNSELOR in 2013, but above the $15.5 million opening of TYLER PERRY'S GOOD DEEDS in 2012.
Critics didn't cheer Taraji's quest for vengeance on her unfaithful husband, giving Tyler Perry's latest an average of 24% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Marvel's irrepressible African superhero BLACK PANTHER was in third place with $11.2 million, climbing to a domestic total of $650.6 million. By next weekend it will surely have climbed over JURASSIC WORLD ($652 million) and TITANIC ($659 million) to become the third highest-grossing release in domestic history.
T'Challa and his fearless colleagues have also gathered $1.27 billion worldwide, putting it ahead of Disney's live-action BEAUTY AND THE BEAST ($1.26 billion) and just a few million shy of FROZEN.
Faith-based story I CAN ONLY IMAGINE was in fourth place with $10.7 million, bringing the $7 million production to $55.5 million domestic on its third weekend in theaters.
Creature-punching sequel PACIFIC RIM UPRISING lurched into fifth place with $9.2 million, a 67% crash from its opening atop the chart last weekend. The John Boyega-led mech-versus-monster conflict has a ten-day domestic total of $45.6 million and $231 million worldwide (on a reported $150 million cost).
Animated family feature SHERLOCK GNOMES was in sixth place with $7 million, losing only 34% of business from last week's opening. The James McAvoy/Emily Blunt-voiced sequel has a ten-day domestic total of $22.8 million.
Teen drama LOVE, SIMON remained in seventh place with $4.8 million for a domestic total of $32.1 million after three weeks on screens. Greg Berlanti's adaptation of Becky Albertalli's book cost a reported $17 million.
TOMB RAIDER was in eighth with $4.7 million, reaching $50.5 million domestic on its third weekend. Alicia Vikander's videogame heroine is still resilient with foreign audiences — the $94 million adaptation is up to $245 million worldwide.
Toward the bottom was Ava DuVernay's adaptation of A WRINKLE IN TIME as it passed $100 million worldwide, and biblical drama PAUL, APOSTLE OF CHRIST closed out the list.
Outside the chart, comedy GAME NIGHT left with romance MIDNIGHT SUN. Wes Anderson's stop-motion animated canine fable ISLE OF DOGS expanded to 165 locations and fetched $2.8 million, a per-screen average of $17k before it goes wide next weekend.
The weekend's other new release GOD'S NOT DEAD: A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS, the third chapter in the insistent religious franchise, opened on nearly 1700 screens for $2.6 million.
Next weekend has John Cena parenting in the comedy BLOCKERS, John Krasinski directs himself and Emily Blunt in the horror thriller A QUIET PLACE, a dark time in Ted Kennedy's life is explored in CHAPPAQUIDDICK, and there's volleyball drama in the biopic THE MIRACLE SEASON.
Which April release are you most interested in seeing? VOTE HERE!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ready Player One | $41.2 M | $53.2 M |
| 2 | Tyler Perry's Acrimony | $17.1 M | NEW |
| 3 | Black Panther | $11.2 M | $650.6 M |
| 4 | I Can Only Imagine | $10.7 M | $55.5 M |
| 5 | Pacific Rim Uprising | $9.2 M | $45.6 M |
| 6 | Love, Simon | $4.8 M | $32.1 M |
| 7 | Sherlock Gnomes | $7 M | $22.8 M |
| 8 | Tomb Raider | $4.7 M | $50.5 M |
| 9 | A Wrinkle in Time | $4.6 M | $83.2 M |
| 10 | Paul, Apostle of Christ | $3.5 M | $11.5 M |