Alongside superheroes, horror movies have become the biggest and hottest trend in Hollywood. And now, following major hits like Split, Get Out, and IT, John Krasinski's A Quiet Place is proving to be the latest genre feature feature to put up huge numbers. As you can see below, it just had an absolutely stellar opening weekend, and made nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor. Check out the full Top 10 below, and we'll break down the numbers after!
There were whispers this past week about whether or not A Quiet Place would be able to take down Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, but it turns out that it was really no contest. It's notable that the sci-fi thriller based on Ernest Cline's novel actually performed incredibly well in its second week - dropping only 40 percent - but it was still no match for the thrills of John Krasinski's latest. The horror movie rode into the weekend on a wave of fantastic buzz (it's currently holding a 97 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 184 reviews counted), and audiences showed up wanting to know why critics were freaking out.
A Quiet Place doesn't need to make any more money to turn a profit (it was made for just $17 million), but it will be interesting to see how high it continues to ride through the rest of April. Yes, Avengers: Infinity War will stop it dead in its tracks - along with any other movie currently out in theaters - but it should make for a good showdown next week. Watercooler chatter will likely convince a good number of people to check out the film before spoilers spread to far, and that should make it fascinating competition for the silly, action-heavy Rampage starring Dwayne Johnson.
Before we dive into the rest of this weekend's new releases, I'll take a special moment to highlight the latest notable achievement accomplished by Ryan Coogler's Black Panther - which is still holding on in fourth place nearly two months after its release. I hinted that it would happen last week, but the $8.4 million earned these past three days was enough to push the film past Titanic on the all-time domestic chart, meaning that it is now the third most successful blockbuster ever to be released in the United States. Only two movies have done better, and that includes Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.7 million) and Avatar ($760.5 million). The Marvel Studios film will have to settle for its current position, as there is no way it will eclipse those totals by the end of its run, but that doesn't undercut the insane run we have witnessed the past few weeks, which has been mind-boggling.
Now turning attention back to Friday's wide releases, it should be recognized that Kay Cannon's Blockers put up one hell of a fight against Ready Player One as well. The comedy - which caught its own wave of buzz after its SXSW Film Festival - made its entire reported budget back in its first three days, and was just a few million short of claiming second place. It scored slightly under A Quiet Place in terms of CinemaScore - getting a "B" versus the horror flick's "B+" - but positive word of mouth could see it making a solid amount of cash by the time that it leaves theaters.
The other two new wide releases this weekend included John Curran's Chappaquiddick and Sean McNamara's The Miracle Season - but neither of the two based-on-a-true-story dramas managed to stir up a great deal of interest. Admittedly they were released in half the number of theaters as A Quiet Place and Blockers, but their numbers aren't exactly impressive. You'll notice that Chappaquiddick only made enough for 7th place ($6.2 million), while The Miracle Season didn't even make it on to the chart ($4.1 million was only good enough for 11th place).
As mentioned earlier, Brad Peyton's Rampage is the big new release coming out this Friday, but it will be joined in theaters by the horrors of Jeff Wadlow's Truth or Dare, the tennis drama in Janus Metz's Borg vs. McEnroe, and Richard Lanni's animated Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero. Check back next Sunday to see how the chart shifts!
