It’s almost impossible to perfectly predict theweekend box officegrosses, and more often than not, some movies manage to come in either far above, or far below expectations. A few days ago, we predicted that the animated comedyThe Boss Babywould have a solid weekend with just over $20 million, but this animated comedy managed to far exceed expectations, dethroning two-time winnerBeauty and the Beastand taking the box office crown with $49 million. This came in just aboveBeauty and the Beast’s third weekend tally of $47.5 million, bringing its domestic take to $395.4 million, with $876.2 million worldwide, inching closer and closer to the $1 billion mark.
Box Office Mojoreports thatThe Boss Babyearned an impressive $12,987 per-screen average from 3,773 theaters while theGhost in the Shell adaptationdebuted in 3,440 theaters, taking third place with $19 million with a decent $5,523 per-screen average. While those are both solid theater count numbers for an opening weekend,Beauty and the Beastremained in 4,210 theaters this weekend, 1,000 more thanGhost in the Shelland 500 more thanThe Boss Baby, although it dropped 47.4% to second place with an impressive $47.5 million. As far as these new releases' critical receptions,The Boss Babyrose from 29% on Rotten Tomatoes to 49%, although it’s still not exactly a positive score.Ghost in the Shellis currently at 42% on RT. The top 5 rounded out byPower Rangers($14.5 million) andKong: Skull Island($8.8 million).
Disney’sBeauty and the Beastvery well could be the firstbox office blockbusterof the year to surpass $1 billion worldwide, which seems likely to happen sometime this week, or perhaps next week. If that happens, it will be the 29th movie in box office history to do so, and the 14th Disney movie to surpass this box office milestone. With highly-anticipated movies likeGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2(May 5),Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales(May 26),Cars 3(June 16),Thor: Ragnarok(November 3),Coco(November 22) andStar Wars: The Last Jedi(December 15), this could end up being a record-shattering year for Disney at the box office.
When the brother of a fast-talking briefcase-carrying baby (voiced byAlec Baldwin) embarks on a mission to win back the sole affection of his parents, he stumbles upon a secret plot by the CEO of Puppy Co. (voiced bySteve Buscemi) that threatens to destroy the balance of love in the world, and this brash baby executive masquerading as his new brother is at the center of it all in DreamWorks Animation’sThe Boss Baby. Now, they must come together as true brothers to stop thedastardly scheme, save their parents, restore order to the world, and prove that love is indeed an infinite force.The Boss Babyvoice cast is rounded out byLisa Kudrow,Tobey Maguire,Jimmy Kimmel,ViviAnn LeeandMiles Christopher Bakshi.
In the near future, Major (Scarlett Johansson) is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash, who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world’s most dangerous criminals. When terrorism reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people’s minds and control them, Major is uniquely qualified to stop it. As she prepares to face a new enemy, Major discovers that she has been lied to: her life was not saved, it was stolen. She will stop at nothing to recover her past, find out who did this to her and stop them before they do it to others. Based on the internationally acclaimed Japanese Manga, “The Ghost in the Shell.” The supporting cast includesPilou Asbaek,Sam Riley,Michael Pitt,Christopher ObiandTakeshi Kitano.
The top 10 is rounded out byLogan($6.2 million),Get Out($5.8 million),Life($4.6 million),CHiPs($4 million) andThe Zookeeper’s Wife($3.3 million). Also opening in limited release are a re-release ofDonnie Darko, which earned $53,200 from 21 theaters for a $2,533 per-screen average, andThe Devotion of Suspect X, which earned $330,000 from 43 theaters for a $7,674 per-screen average. No box office data was released forThe Blackcoat’s Daughter,Carrie Pilby,Here Alone,Despite the Falling Snow,Here Alone,Live Cargo,God Knows Where I Am,The PrisonandNaam Shabana. It remains to be seen if any of these films will expand in the weeks and months ahead.
Looking ahead to next weekend, three new films will open in wide release, with Sony’sSmurfs: The Lost Villagegoing up against Warner Bros.' comedy remakeGoing in Styleand PureFlix’sThe Case For Christ. Also debuting in limited release are Magnolia’sAlive and KickingandCezanne et moi, Neon’sColossal, Parade Deck’sThe Eyes, Fox Searchlight’sGifted, IFC’sGraduation, Well Go USA’sMine, STX Entertainment’sTheir Finest, Shout! Factor’sThe Ticket, FilmRise’sTrumanScreen Media’sThe Voidand Funimation’sYour Name. Check back on Sunday for the box office estimates, and again next Tuesday for our next round of predictions. Until then, take a look at our projections for the weekend of March 31.
