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Lupita Nyongo Getty Images 1.jpg

Box Office Report: This is 'Us'. The Good 'Us'

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | March 24, 2019 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | March 24, 2019 |


Lupita Nyongo Getty Images 1.jpg

Get Out was the hit that nobody saw coming. Sure, reviews were strong and it opened in a quiet month and Blumhouse know how to make a horror hit at the box office, but watching Jordan Peele’s directorial debut become a true cultural juggernaut and eventual Oscar winner was something that few of us could have predicted. So you would think that predictions for Us, Peele’s follow-up, would be a little braver. Nope, he was still seriously under-estimated, but wow did this one pay off. The new horror film (enough with the ‘elevated horror’ crap) made a staggering $70.25m this weekend. Close to half of all tickets sold this weekend for the top 12 films went to Us. It also had the third largest opening of all time for an R-rated horror movie. The budget was $20m so yes, this one did very well. There’s a lot of love for Peele and Us had a very savvy marketing campaign alongside those near universally stellar reviews. There have been a lot of headlines declaring Jordan Peele to be the new Hitchcock but nah, he’s the first Jordan Peele and we’re all better for it.

Sliding to second in its third week is Captain Marvel, which soared past $300m domestically this weekend. It’s total worldwide gross is now over $910m. Damn, that boycott sure hit it hard, didn’t it? I think we’re all still expecting Avengers: Endgame to be the top grossing movie of 2019 but I still think Captain Marvel can hold onto a spot in the top three if it keeps up these numbers for another couple of weeks.

Maybe the most expected part of the top ten this week comes from the arrival of Gloria Bell. The Julianne Moore film, a remake of the Chilean film, jumped eleven places to number eight as it widened its distribution to 654 theatres. A24 made a solid $1.8m from that expansion.

In limited release this weekend, Hotel Mumbai made around $86k from four theatres. Both of Alexander Skarsgård’s limited releases did well as they expanded: The Aftermath made $123k from 26 theatres and The Hummingbird Project took in under $79k from 41 theatres. Out of Blue, a crime drama directed by Carol Morley and starring Patricia Clarkson, didn’t do so well, with only $17,682 from three theatres.

This coming week sees the release of Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum, which is getting a wide release straight out of the gate (Overlord Dustin did not hate this movie!), Tim Burton’s Dumbo, and some Pureflix anti-choice propaganda.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office here.

What films did you watch this weekend? Let us know in the comments.



Header Image Source: Getty Images.