‘Glass’ stared down the competition in its third week, which ended up being its third weekend at #1, although it was the weakest weekend at the box office since 2017. The M. Night Shyamalan thriller generated an extra $9.5 million and has managed to stay buoyant despite meh reactions from audiences and critics. STX’s ‘The Upside’ also continues to hold up well after a month in theaters. It came in second for the third week in a row, behind ‘Glass’, with $8.8M. While critics weren’t kind, audiences are giving this picture the thumbs up.
With it being Super Bowl weekend, the major studios held off on releasing any major new pictures. While the big game does wipe out the box office on Sunday, traditionally mid-tier pictures have proven successful overall on this weekend in the past.
Unfortunately, Sony’s ‘Miss Bala’, a remake of an acclaimed 2011 Mexican action movie, hasn’t drawn many viewers and will settle for the #3 spot with a poor $6.7M. A lot of this weak performance is being blamed on marketing and Sony not targeting the Latin community. (95% of ‘Miss Bala’s cast and crew were Latinx.)
Critics are not fans, with it averaging 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. PostTrak audience polls were strong with three and a half stars.
‘Aquaman’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ round out the Top Five. ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ has now amassed $175.3M at the domestic box office, making it Sony’s highest-grossing animated movie, topping ‘Hotel Transylvania 2’.
- Glass (Universal/BVI/Blumhouse) – $9.5M
- The Upside (STX) – $8.8M
- Miss Bala (Sony) – $6.7M
- Aquaman (Warner Brothers) – $4.7M
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony) – $4.4M
Dreamworks’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ doesn’t open until February 22, but preview screenings were held this weekend, with many cinemas reporting sell-outs, so expect that movie to land big when it officially premieres. It generated $2.5M in just one day– Saturday.
20th Century Fox’s ‘The Kid Who Would Be King’ has fallen out of the Top Five in only its second weekend. Its domestic box office total is only $13.2M. With its $59M budget plus marketing, this looks like the first sizeable flop of the year.
Things might be more awesome next weekend, as ‘The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part’ arrives and should take the crown. Also opening is the comedy ‘What Men Want’ starring Taraji P. Henson, a loose remake of the 2000 Mel Gibson movie and the Liam Neeson thriller ‘Cold Pursuit’.
Check back to see if ‘LEGO’ can outbuild the competition!
Source: Deadline
