With the new releases underwhelming at the box office, it was another winning weekend for Disney Animation
Earning the three-peat is Zootopia, which brought in $38 million during its third weekend. At this point, there isn’t much left to say about the animated blockbuster’s success. So far, it’s grossed $201.8 million domestically, taking advantage of a weak bunch of competitors throughout the month of March. Internationally, it’s up to $591 million globally.
Debuting in second is The Divergent Series: Allegiant (read our review), which set a new franchise low with a $29 million opening. That is a considerable decrease from the previous two installments in the series, which both made more than $50 million when they hit theaters. The young adult adaptation wasn’t done any favors by largely negative reactions, which hardly made it an appealing option. Divergent has always been a second fiddle in this particular genre when compared to the likes of Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, but this highlights the gap between them even more so. Outside of fans of the books, there wasn’t much interest in seeing it.
If there’s a saving grace for Allegiant, it’s that in the overseas markets, it’s gotten a bit of a boost. The worldwide figure is $82.4 million, meaning it should be able to recoup its $110 million production budget. However, it has a long ways to go for profitability, and with Batman V Superman finally premiering next week, Allegiant is going to take a major hit in business and not hold well. Unfortunately for Lionsgate, they still have one more film in the franchise to release before it’s over, at a time when the demand for YA dystopian fiction is low.
Surprisingly coming in third is Miracles from Heaven, which made $15 million in its opening weekend. The religious drama actually opened on Wednesday, March 16, so it’s now up to $18.5 million domestically, already surpassing its budget. It continued the trend of faith-based films performing well at the box office, even though awareness may have been an issue heading into its release.
Falling to fourth is 10 Cloverfield Lane, which dropped 49.4 percent in its second weekend, making $12.5 million. The thriller is now at $45.1 million in the States, holding relatively well thanks to the strong word-of-mouth.
Rounding out the top five is Deadpool, grossing $8 million in its sixth week. The Merc with a Mouth has now made $340.9 million domestically and $730.6 million globally.
Action sequel London Has Fallen comes at #6 with $6.8 million. It’s now up to $50 million in the States.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is seventh, grossing $2.8 million to raise its domestic total to $19.2 million.
The #8 film is The Perfect Match. The film brought in $1.9 million over the weekend and is now at $7.3 million in the U.S.
Comedy The Brothers Grimsby came in ninth place with $1.4 million. One of the biggest box office bombs of the year so far, it’s only made $5.9 million in its run.
Finishing off the top 10 is The Revenant. The Oscar-winning revenge drama made $1.2 million to increase its domestic total to $181.1 million.
[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates — based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, March 21 — at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]
