This year is off to asuh-lowwwstart, my friends. January’s big breadwinner wasM. Night Shyamalan’sGlass, which has yet to hit $100 million domestically. ButThe LEGO Movie 2: The Second Partwas supposed to bring balance to the box office as the year’s first franchise film. Alas, the animated sequel directed byMike Mitchelland written byChris MillerandPhil Lorddebuted to $34.4 million, well below the expected $50-55 million range.
This likely comes down to LEGO fatigue at the movie theater, a sentence that would make absolutely no sense six years ago. Following the massive, unexpected success ofThe LEGO Movieand its $257 million domestic gross, Warner Bros. released bothThe LEGO Batman MovieandThe LEGO Ninjago Moviein 2017. (Batmanopened to $53 million whileNinjagois still the lowest debut at $20.4 million.) As they say, too many blocks spoils the broth. But all is not lost forThe LEGO Movie 2. The film, which still boasts star power in the likes ofChris Pratt,Elizabeth Banks, andWill Arnett, could make ground over the long President’s Day weekend.
Meanwhile,What Men Wantopened to $19 million, a subdued but solid start considering the comedy’s $20 million budget. Directed byAdam Shankman, the film starsTaraji P. Hensonas a sports agent who suddenly finds she can read men’s thoughts. Assumedly, that power would help to understand why nobody went to seeLiam Neeson’s revenger-thrillerCold Pursuit, which debuted this weekend to a chilly $10.8 million, one of the lowest of Neeson’s career for an action flick. (A Walk Among the Tombstonesopened to $12.8 million. DidyouseeA Walk Among the Tombstones?)
The fourth newcomer of the weekend,The Prodigy, couldn’t crack the top 5. The creepy-kid horror flick directed by Nicolas McCarthy opened to $6 million, losing out toGlass($6.4 million) and the incredibly persistentThe Upside($7.2 million).
Check out the weekend’s top 10 estimates below, and be back here next week to see ifAlita: Battle Angelcan eye up the competition.
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
$34,400,000
What Men Want
$19,000,000
Cold Pursuit
$10,800,000
The Upside
$7,220,000
$85,800,366
$6,422,000
$98,476,580
The Prodigy
$6,004,403
Green Book
$3,567,000
$61,501,776
$3,300,000
$328,547,042
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
$3,040,000
$179,821,627
$2,725,000
$11,865,096
