There’s no stopping Disney when they’re on an honest-to-goodness tear. That’s the lesson to be learned from this weekend at the box office, whereBeauty and the Beastonce again reigned supreme. The subject matter has something to do with the success of the film: it’s a fantastical romantic-comedy, whereas the far superior yet way less financially successfulPete’s Dragonis, at heart, a fantasy film about maturity, adulthood, nature, and instinct. Still, with the film taking the top spot this weekend with some $88 million following its massive opener,Beauty and the Beastis nothing short of a juggernaut, and we haven’t even started getting into its international money and home video prospects.
This means that this weekend’s big opener,Power Rangers, had to take the second-place spot, but there’s no shame inDean Israelite’s game here.Power Rangersbeat out predictions that had it coming in at $30-35 million with a $40.5 million take overall; if it keeps up a decent percentage of that business next weekend, a sequel is essentially certain. It’s also genuinely entertaining to watch, despite some truly idiotic plot turns and dialogue, and the stunning amount of Krispy Kreme product placement.Man of Steelhad nearly identical issues and made me wander off in my mind to contemplate how towels are made for much of its egregious runtime;Power Rangerskept me interested from beginning to end.
And as compared to the other openers for the weekend,Power Rangerscould be seen as a real blockbuster. Coming in at fourth,Daniel Espinosa’sLifemade some money off of sci-fi die-hards and the most rabid fans ofJake GyllenhaalandRyan Reynolds, but struggled to secure a larger audience with $12.6 million, whileLogancontinued its winning streak at fifth place with another $10.1 million, easily pushing it past $200 million in total domestically. Finally, there was the amiableKong: Skull Island, which is continuing to do strong business with a $14.4 million haul for the weekend, putting it right behindPower Rangers.
Even ifGhost in the Shellunderperforms next weekend, I would expect this to be the last weekend forLoganandLifein the top five; the added pressure of animated openerThe Boss Babynext weekend is also something to keep an eye on. Right now, it looks like next weekend will putBeauty and the Beastto the test in it’s third frame against the star-power oomph ofScarlett Johansson. The question is: will people show up for a white-washed remake of a cult anime just because of Johansson? As always, we shall see.
Here’s the top five for the weekend box office:
Weekend Box Office
Total Domestic Box Office
- ‘Beauty and the Beast’
$88,347,000
$316,952,887
02. ‘Power Rangers’
$40,500,000
03. ‘Kong: Skull Island’
$14,425,000
$133,502,238
04. ‘Life’
$12,600,000
05. ‘Logan’
$10,145,000
$201,455,596
