‘Logan’ was expected to win the weekend, but the latest (and last?) outing for Hugh Jackman as the razor-clawed mutant, slashed away the competition from both this week and years past. Raking in $85.3M, ‘Logan’ now ranks as the highest R-rated debut for March, de-powering ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ ($85.1M in 2015) and ‘The Passion of the Christ’ ($83.8M in 2004). Globally, ‘Logan’ earned $237.8M, torpedoing estimates that it would earn around $170M. Easily, ‘Logan’ marks the best-performing (and reviewed– an astounding 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, A- CinemaScore) of the three solo Wolverine movies and the best debut from director James Mangold, whose previous best was the $53.1M bow by ‘The Wolverine’ in 2013.
All this without catering to those damn kids and their families! (Even though everyone I know that saw it, reported several under 10 children in the audiences… many of whom were ushered out when parents realized this was not another ‘Avengers’ movie.)
In exit polls, die-hard fans even expressed a desire to see more R-rated superhero movies… even though the grim & gritty route didn’t work for ‘Batman V Superman’ so who knows what they really want?
After all, ‘Logan’ wasn’t the only superhero action in the Top Five. Holdover family-flick ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’ is still swinging his way through, collecting an additional $11.65M. Maybe it’s just about moderation?
The rest of the Top Five included the excellently-reviewed, low-budget horror flick ‘Get Out’, faith-based ‘The Shack’ and YA-adaptation ‘Before I Fall’.
Here is the Top Five:
Logan (20th Century Fox) – $85.3M- Get Out (Universal) – $26.1M
- The Shack (Lionsgate) – $16.1M
- The LEGO Batman Movie (Warner Brothers) – $11.65M
- Before I Fall (Open Road) – $4.9M
‘Logan’ is performing so far over expectation to such a degree that it now looks as though it COULD wind up on top again next weekend against newbie ‘Kong: Skull Island’, which was expected to be the weekend champ. Even if ‘Logan’ drops a whopping 45%, it will still earn an additional $46+ M. And with its excellent viewer scores, which will translate to word-of-mouth, that’s a very good possibility.
‘Kong’ is currently ranking at a decent 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, and is tracking to land between $40 and $45M… which would be lower than $46+M, but the fact that there are ZERO other major new movies opening could give the big ape a boost.
Check back to see how things turn out!
Source: Deadline
