‘Black Panther’ Keeps Box Office Treasure From ‘Tomb Raider’; ‘I Can Only Imagine’ Sings $17M High Note
March 18, 2018
‘Black Panther’ Keeps Box Office Treasure From ‘Tomb Raider’; ‘I Can Only Imagine’ Sings $17M High Note
Sunday AM Update: Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther once again prevented any other major studio title from advancing on its No. 1 turf with a fifth weekend estimated haul of $26.4M (Disney reporting soon) Black Panther will cross the $600M threshold today on its 31st day of release, becoming the second-fastest to that mark after Star Wars The Force Awakens (12 days) and ahead of Jurassic World (36 days) and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (37 days). Check out our previous box office update and industry analysis on Black Panther reaping $461M in profit.
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'Black Panther' Poised For $460M+ Profit; Faith-Based 'I Can Only Imagine' Surprises With $15M+
For a reboot priced at $90M+, Tomb Raider didn’t wow with a studio-reported weekend of $23.5M plus an overall B CinemaScore, and 70% overall positive on PostTrak. MGM/Warner Bros. are hoping to make up any shortfall abroad. That opening was only 8% higher than the second 2003 Tomb Raider movie, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life starring Angelina Jolie. That sequel closed the whole franchise down for another 15 years, and if you want this brand to make a comeback, it’s gotta be better and middling reviews and audience exits weren’t feeling it. If this film carried a production cost in the $50M-$60M range like a Resident Evil, MGM/Warner Bros. could be looking at a mini-genre franchise here akin to what Screen Gems owns. Mostly guy video game fans turning out at 56%.
The biggest eyebrow raiser over the weekend was Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate’s Christian rock movie I Can Only Imagine. As a number of faith-based titles have flooded the market over the last four years, tracking wasn’t expecting this one about the backstory of MercyMe song to hit a high note. But this $7M production made its budget back in 3-days after earning a $17M 3-day and a A+ CinemaScore. Pic drew 67% female, 80% over 35. The assumption heading into the weekend was that Greg Berlanti’s Love, Simon after earning strong previews of $800K last Saturday would potentially be the one to overperform. The $10M production still did fine with an $11.5M three day, and A+ CinemaScore.
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