After dethroning 20th Century Fox’sDeadpoolat thebox officelast weekend, Disney’sZootopiawas easily expected to remain on top during its second frame in theaters. The animated comedy faced Paramount’s low-budget thriller10 Cloverfield Lane, Sony’s R-rated comedyThe Brothers Grimsby, Focus Features' historical dramaThe Young Messiahand Lionsgate’s The Perfect Match, none of which were expected to take downZootopia.Box Office Mojoreports thatZootopiadid in fact come out on top for the second weekend in a row, earning a healthy $50 million.
Zootopiaonly dropped an impressive 33.4% in its second weekend, with its current domestic tally at $142.6 million and an international total of $288.7 million for a global take of $431.3 million. The movie is a huge hit with critics, scoring a 99% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, andZootopiashould do well with repeat viewing.Zootopiaearned a healthy $13,065 per-screen average, with the movie playing in 3,827theaters.
The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other. Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it’s a melting pot where animals from every environment live together-a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. But when optimistic Officer Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a police force of big, tough animals isn’t so easy. Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with a fast-talking, scam-artist fox, Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), to solve the mystery. The voice cast is rounded out byIdris Elba,Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt,Tommy Chong,J.K. SimmonsandOctavia Spencer.
The top newcomer this week will be 10 Cloverfield Lane, which took in $25.2 million during its opening weekend. This thriller was followed by three holdovers,Deadpool($10.8 million)London Has Fallen($10.6 million) andWhiskey Tango Foxtrot($4.6 million), which rounded out the top 5. The Perfect Match debuted in sixth place with $4.1 million, followed byThe Young Messiahwith $3.4 million andThe Brothers Grimsbywith $3.1 million.The Brothers Grimsbyand The Perfect Match didn’t fare so well with critics, with 38% and 33%, respectively, on Rotten Tomatoes, but10 Cloverfield Lane(91% Fresh) andThe Young Messiah(63% Fresh) fared much better.10 Cloverfield Lanehad the widest release of these newcomers, with 3,391 theaters, followed byThe Brothers Grimsbywith 2,235 theaters,The Young Messiahwith 1,761 theaters and The Perfect Match debuting in 925 theaters.
10 Cloverfield Lane has had an unusual history, first starting out as a film known as bothValenciaandThe Cellarunder Paramount Pictures' low-budget division Paramount Insurge. When that specialty label folded, the movie went back to Paramount Pictures, who hired Daniel Casey andDamien Chazelleto rewrite the script so that it would connect to theCloverfielduniverse. The story centers on a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who wakes up in the basement of a mysterious man (John Goodman). He tells her that he saved her from a car crash, and now the outside world is uninhabitable.
The Brothers Grimsbycenters on Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen), a sweet but dimwitted English football hooligan, reunites with his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), a deadly MI6 agent, to prevent a massive global terror attack and prove that behind every great spy is an embarrassing sibling. Nobby has everything a man from Grimsby could want, including 11 children and the most gorgeous girlfriend in the northeast of England (Rebel Wilson). There’s only one thing missing: his little brother, Sebastian, who Nobby has spent 28 years searching for after they were separated as kids. Nobby sets off to reunite with Sebastian, unaware that not only is his brother MI6’s deadliest assassin, but he’s just uncovered plans for an imminent global terrorist attack. On the run and wrongfully accused, Sebastian realizes that if he is going to save the world, he will need the help of its biggest idiot.
The faith-based dramaThe Young Messiahtells the story of Jesus Christ at age seven as he and his family depart Egypt to return home to Nazareth. Told from his childhood perspective, it follows young Jesus as he grows into his religious identity. The cast includesSean Bean,David Bradley, Jonathan Bailey, Isabelle Adriani,Christian McKayand Lee Boardman. The Perfect Match follows a playboy named Charlie (Terrence Jenkins), who, after being convinced that all his relationships are dead, meets the beautiful and mysterious Eva (Paula Patton). After agreeing to a casual affair, Charlie starts wants a bit more from their relationship.
The top 10 is rounded out by The Perfect Match ($4.1 million),The Young Messiah($3.4 million),The Brothers Grimsby($3.1 million),Gods of Egypt($2.5 million) and Risen ($2.2 million). Also opening in limited release this weekend was Bleecker Street’sEye in the Sky, which took in $117,050 from five theaters for an impressive $23,410 per-average, A24’s Remember, which earned $20,000 from two theaters for a $10,000 per-screen average and FilmRise’s Lolo, which earned $3,000 from just one theaters. There were no box office data released for Gravitas Ventures’Barney Thomson, Magnolia’s Creative Control and Well Go USA’s Rise of the Legend.
Looking ahead to next weekend, only two new movies open in wide release, Lionsgate/Summit’sThe Divergent Series: Allegiantand TriStar’sMiracles from Heaven. Opening in limited release are Warner Bros.‘Midnight Special, Paramount’sThe Little Prince, Sony Pictures Classics’The Bronze, A24’s Krisha and Freestyle Releasing’sKtown Cowboys. Be sure to check back on tuesday, when we predictBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s box office take. Until then, take a look at this weekend’s box office estimates below.
