Despite it being Valentine's Day weekend (even if the actual holiday isn't until Tuesday), there was more love in the air across the pond for the blocky adventures of The Lego Batman Movie than the wannabe kinksters of Fifty Shades Darker. The Caped Crusader's Lego Movie spin-off earned $55.6 million, according to studio estimates. Though a less successful launch than its parent film, that was still a good starting point for Batman, which added $37 million from elsewhere in the world for a global total of $92.6 million. And audiences outside of America were kinder to Christian and Ana as Darker, which took in $46.7 million in the States, grossed a tad over $100 million overseas, making its worldwide kick-off up to $146.8 million. But again, it was down from the opening of the original Fifty Shades Of Grey, which earned $85.1 million back in 2015. Continuing the run of sequels (well, spin-offs in the Batcase), John Wick: Chapter 2 shot its way into third, making $30 million. The new films meant that Split, which has been ruling the roost for a few weeks, fell to fourth on $9.3 million.
Hidden Figures rounded out the top five with $8 million. A Dog's Purpose fell to sixth place from third, taking in $7.3 million, while Rings dropped from second to seventh on $5.8 million; the horror reboot has yet to make its production budget back from its US earnings. La La Land fell slightly to eighth and $5 million, ahead of fellow awards hopeful Lion at ninth with $4 million. And finally, at 10th, we find sci-fi teen romance The Space Between Us. It only dropped one place, but given that it launched at ninth and took home $1.7 million this week for a $6.5 million running total, that isn't going to make anyone involved with the movie smile. EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Get Out” Slams Door on “LEGO Batman,” “Rock Dog” & “Collide” More articles by Mitch Salem » Written by: Mitch Salem Tags: 2.24.17 box office, 50 Shades Darker Friday box office, box office analysis, Collide Friday box office, Cure For Wellness Friday box office, early Frieay box office, February 24 2017 box office, Fist Fight Friday box office, Get Out Friday box office, Great Wall Friday box office, Hidden Figures Friday box office, John Wick Friday box office, La La Land Friday box office
, Lego Batman Movie Friday box office, Lion Friday box office, movie profitability, Rock Dog Friday box office, showbuzzdaily box office, spotlight UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.28.2017 SHOWBUZZDAILY SERIES PREMIERE REVIEW: “Taken” UPDATED: SHOWBUZZDAILY’s Top 150 Tuesday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 2.28.2017It looks like releasing three big time movies in one shot was a nice boost to the weekend box office numbers. As expected, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE lead the way with over $50 million. It looks like it will come in around $15 million less than THE LEGO MOVIE, but I’m sure Warner Bros. is happy that an animated spin-off could open so well. The live action Batman franchise may be in trouble, but at least they have the LEGO version under control. The folks over at Lionsgate are also probably happy with themselves right now since JOHN WICK: CHAPTER TWO is flirting with a $30 million opening, which will double the take of the original film.
Coupled with the rave reviews and Lionsgate has themselves a bonafide franchise on their hands. Then there’s FIFTY SHADES DARKER, which looks like it will take in $40 million less than it’s predecessor. At first, you might think that Universal would still be happy with that number, but keep in mind that the original film dropped like a rock in its second weekend, so if that happens again with FIFTY SHADES DARKER, the film could struggle to hit $100 million. It kind of feels like they have another Divergent series on their hands where the first film does well and then each subsequent film earns less and gets even worse. Next week sees the release of THE GREAT WALL with Matt Damon. And yes, it seems like a cash grab for Damon and I can’t imagine it having much success domestically although I’m sure it will clean up internationally. The other new movie of the weekend is FIST FIGHT with Charlie Day and Ice Cube. At first, I’d say FIST FIGHT won’t do much because of the terrible trailers, but keep in mind there aren’t any comedies at the box office right now, so FIST FIGHT might do okay do to lack of competition.
But my guess is that THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE will take the top spot and JOHN WICK: CHAPTER TWO will leapfrog to the second spot thanks to great word of mouth. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final. 1. The LEGO Batman Movie $54.5m 2. Fifty Shades Darker $48.3m 3. John Wick: Chapter 2 $29.6m 5. Hidden Figures $8.2m 6. A Dog’s Purpose $7.7m 8. La La Land $5.1m 10. The Space Between Us $1.7m Topics: John Wick: Chapter 2, The Lego Batman Movie, Weekend Box OfficeWisconsin senator Ron Johnson is about to get a ton of pork rectums in the mail The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac launch bicoastal classic rock festivalsWarner Bros’ John Wick: Chapter 2 is the week’s highest new entry with $2.78m (£2.23m) opening; Moonlight posts strong site average. The Lego Batman Movie fell only 19% as it retained top spot at the UK box office for the second straight week.Warner Bros’ animation enjoyed a $5.52m (£4.43m) second weekend for a strong $21.7m (£17.43m) to date.
As expected, it prospered over the half term as it amassed more than $6.2m (£5m) across Mon-Thurs.The Lego Movie stood at $27.4m (£21.97m) at the same stage of its run, but didn’t have major family competition like Lego Batman does with Sing, with its main rival being Mr. Peabody & Sherman.Also for Warner Bros, John Wick: Chapter 2 shot to a promising $2.78m (£2.23m) UK debut from its 436 sites to chart third.The action sequel took $311,000 (£249,000) from Valentine’s Day previews and has already surpassed the entire UK haul of John Wick, boosted by that film’s cult status on home entertainment.Sequels are usually front-loaded, but Chapter 2 could benefit as counter-programming to a family and Oscar heavy market at the moment.Fifty Shades Darker remained in second as it dropped 55% on its way to a $4.29m (£3.44m) second weekend.Universal’s raunchy sequel whipped up $2.49m (£2m) on Valentine’s Day and has now reached $20.8m (£16.71m) in the UK, making it the ninth highest-grossing 18-rated film of all time.
Even with similar drops, it should cross £20m by the end of its run.Also for Universal, Sing fell only 10% with a $2.64m (£2.12m) fourth weekend, helped by boosted Friday takings.Illumination Entertainment’s latest hit animation took more than $3.74m (£3m) across Mon-Thurs thanks to the school holidays, and has now reached a superb $29.3m (£23.45m) in the UK.Rounding off this week’s top five, The Great Wall sliced to a so-so $2.06m (£1.65m) debut from its 459 sites.That marks director Zhang Yimou’s best-ever UK opening, ahead of Hero’s $1.25m (£1m) from 254 sites, although that film was entirely in Mandarin compared to The Great Wall’s mix of English and Mandarin.Split added $516,000 (£414,000) for an impressive $13.1m (£10.5m) after five weeks in play, making it director M Night Shyamalan’s fourth-biggest UK result.Hidden Figures recorded the fourth-biggest UK debut of this year’s crop of Oscar Best Picture contenders.Fox’s biopic accumulated a non-final $1.8m (£1.44m) from its 489 sites, including around $287,000 (£230,000) in previews from its Bafta-qualifying run since last Friday (February 10).
The debut is director Theodore Melfi’s best-ever UK result.Also for Fox, Secret Cinema’s production of Moulin Rouge! opened its doors on Valentine’s Day and has grossed a non-final $246,000 (£197,160). It runs until April 30.Trolls has now taken $30.6m (£24.55m).T2 Trainspotting will soon break into the top ten highest-grossing 18-rated films of all time in the UK.Sony’s long-awaited sequel journeyed to a $990,000 (£794,000) fourth weekend for a decent $19.1m (£15.3m) to date, and will shortly overtake the $19.2m (£15.4m) results of Fatal Attraction (1988) and Basic Instinct (1992), not adjusted for inflation.Lion continued its remarkable UK run with a tiny drop of 7% on its way to a $867,000 (£695,739) fifth weekend.Entertainment’s drama has now travelled to $9.97m (£8m) and could still overtake Arrival’s $11.7m (£9.4m) result to become the second highest-grossing Oscar Best Picture nominee of this year.La La Land fell a slim 32% in its sixth weekend as it danced to an extra $810,000 (£649,252).
Lionsgate’s Oscar favourite has now amassed a dazzling $35.3m (£28.29m) in the UK and expected awards success should see it past the £30m mark, which would also see it become Lionsgate’s third-biggest film ever.Also for Lionsgate, Hacksaw Ridge fought to a further $320,000 (£256,381) for $6.17m (£4.94m) after four weeks in play.Moonlight enjoyed an auspicious start to its UK box office run after limited previews over the past week.Altitude’s Oscar contender posted an excellent debut of $774,000 (£620,636) from its 85 sites, including $317,000 (£253,924) in previews. Its Fri-Sun total of $457,000 (£366,712) saw it record a healthy site average of $5,381 (£4,314), lifting to $9,098 (£7,294) for its overall opening.The result marks Altitude’s biggest-ever opening, surpassing Amy’s $652,000 (£523,192), and the distributor is looking to expand into around 140 sites from Friday (February 24).Also for Altitude, The Eagle Huntress has reached $424,000 (£339,881), surpassing the results of fellow documentaries like Exit Through The Gift Shop, Finding Vivian Maier and Grizzly Man.Fences expanded to 148 sites on its way to a non-final $470,000 (£377,000) second weekend.
Paramount’s Oscar contender has now grossed $707,000 (£567,000) after ten days in play, and expands to more than 300 sites from this coming Friday where it will hope to profit on Oscar success.Also for Paramount, Rings has scared up $2.18m (£1.75m) after three weeks in play.In a crowded market, Studiocanal’s The Founder opened with an unspectacular $289,000 (£231,412) from its 181 sites, marking a site average of $1,595 (£1,279).That’s one of the lowest debuts for director John Lee Hancock, although The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks benefitted from awards contention.Also for Studiocanal, Manchester By The Sea crossed the £3m mark as a $68,000 (£54,197) weekend lifted it to $3.76m (£3.01m).Jackie has now grossed $4.1m (£3.29m) following a $119,000 (£95,401) fifth weekend through eOne.Also for eOne, 20th Century Women expanded to 48 sites for a $101,000 (£80,929) second weekend and $226,000 (£181,448) to date.In its third weekend, Soda Pictures’ Toni Erdmann added a non-final $43,000 (£34,263) for $528,000 (£423,473) to date.