After a period of 7 days when the initial buzz has died down, many motion pictures expect to fall back into the pack of also-rans in the box office stakes. As for The Lego Batman Movie - forget about it.
With the help of brand recognition to boost it's stocks, coming in the form of a sequel to The Lego Movie on top of it's relationship to the world of DC, the title has overcome competition in the form of the comedy Fist Fight and the extravaganza that is the war epic The Great Wall. More appropriate for families, Warner Brothers will be very happy with their work for a film that has won over critics and now moviegoers nationwide.
Damon's Flick Falls Short Of Fifty Shades
The Lego Batman Movie's impressive $35m take across the weekend saw them take out back-to-back accolades. Leaving the rest to scramble for second place. That honor would end up going to Fifty Shades Darker via $20.8m. An installment that has been universally panned and scoffed at by critics for it's mundane screenplay and cardboard acting.
The Great Wall would follow into third position in the box office standings by bringing home $18m over this period. The good news for Zhang Yimou's masterpiece is that the studio is not relying on the generosity from a US audience to recoup their enormous $150m budget. Having already aired on December 16 last year in his native China, where the fantasy adventure movie has earned $224.6m to date and counting.
R For Regular - Audiences Not Flocking To The Edgy Flicks
The next cab off the rank is John Wick: Chapter 2, a sequel that has been hyped and marketed well beyond what the original was given to push the sleeper franchise well into the mainstream. At $16m and tracking to $19m for a four-day total, the Keanu Reeves blockbuster was always going to be something of a niche picture for it's R rating, a fact that translates across to Ice Cub and Charlie Day for their comedy Fist Fight.
Their $12-14m gross perhaps flatters to deceive on a number of counts, coming in the wake of a strong push in the press culminating in multiple interviews and marketing ploys to boost their return. To put Fist Fight in check, they are traveling on par with Cube's other comedy franchise Friday, a stoner-buddy series that was made on a much smaller budget ($3.5m compared to $12m) including a healthy reception from critics.
Source: Collider
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