In its first weekend out, Dwayne Johnson tried to Rampage through the second-week returns for John Krasinki’s horror film, but between The Rock and A Quiet Place, it mostly ended up a stalemate where both sides could claim victory.
Dwayne Johnson can claim victory because Rampage narrowly took the top spot at the weekend box office with what appears to be a $34.6 million opening. A Quiet Place won Friday night at the box office, but families turned out big for Rampage on Saturday to boost it into the top spot over the weekend. Rampage‘s performance was bolstered by solid word of mouth (an A- on Cinemascore) and decent reviews for a video-game movie. At 50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it currently stands as the best-reviewed video-game movie on RT, edging the 49 percent of Tomb Raider earlier this month, although I am not sure that I would qualify a 50 percent (still certified Rotten) as “breaking the video-game curse.”
Wow! Very cool RAMPAGE news! Not pointing to the scoreboard yet, but it seems we may have finally broken the dreaded video game curse. And remember, I starred in the stinker “Doom” so I have lived thy curse 🙏🏾 https://t.co/2FSb0wXavK
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) April 13, 2018
The nearly $35 million gross, however, is certainly a win for the $120 million film, slightly beating expectations here in America. But again, with a massive budget like that, Rampage needs a good showing overseas to make a profit, and it’s doing just that, eyeing a $50 million opening in China in addition to performing well in other overseas markets. Dwayne Johnson clearly has yet another box-office win on his hands.
Meanwhile, A Quiet Place, which bested Rampage on Friday night, can still boast of a remarkably good second weekend, with only a 35 percent drop, which is a tremendously good hold for both a film that scored more than $50 million in its first weekend and a horror movie, which typically see much larger second weekend drops (Get Out, being the exception). After 10 days, A Quiet Place sits on the cusp of $100 million, which isn’t bad for a film that only cost $17 million to make.
Third place went to another new release this weekend, Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare. It’s not a great movie (15 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), but Jason Blum and Co. know just how to market these films and squeeze out big opening weekends. The film earned $20 million on only a $3.5 million budget, so even if bad word of mouth (a B- Cinemascore) sinks it in its second weekend, it will still come out plenty profitable for Blumhouse. Don’t be surprised, too, if there is a sequel (which is being teased in an after-credits sequence).
The rest of the top ten were all holdovers, although it is worth noting that Jon Hamm’s Beirut, which opened on 750 screens, opened outside the top ten with $1.5 million.
The four spot went to Spielberg’s Ready Player One, which added $11 million to bring its total to $114 million domestic, although it is making a killing overseas, having crossed $300 million internationally. The fantastic Blockers added $10 million its second weekend to bring its total up to $36 million.
Black Panther continues to add to its record-setting run, finishing at number six with $5.4 million and, with $673 million, has an outside shot of hitting $700 million domestic before it sails out of theaters. Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs added 1300 theaters and $4.8 million as it rolls out nationally. It’s earned $18 million, so far. I Can Only Imagine has now earned $75 million after 5 weeks, and Tyler Perry’s Acrimony came in ninth place with $3.7 million and $37 million overall. Finally, Chappaquiddick closes out the top ten with $2.9 million and $10 million, overall.
Next week sees the release of Amy Schumer’s I Feel Pretty, which may challenge Rampage and A Quiet Place for the top spot. Super Troopers 2 and Traffik also open as the box-office prepares for the quiet before the Infinity Wars storm on April 27th.
(Via Box Office Mojo / Deadline)
