Weekend box office: A late surge pushes Dwayne Johnson’s ‘Rampage’ to the top

Weekend Box Office April 13-15, 2018

(KUTV) Going into the weekend, “Rampage,” the Dwayne Johnson action film featuring a destructive pack of massive animals, was expecting to bring in $34 million. On Friday, those expectations were lowered to $30 or so million. Saturday turned things around a bit and is now expected to finish with the original estimate of $34 million. That’s not a runaway success in North America, but its worldwide total of $148 million will help to offset any domestic disappointment Warner Bros. might be feeling.

With “Avengers: Infinity War” set to be released April 27, the shelf life of “Rampage” was always going to be short in America, but Marvel’s new film doesn’t open in China, where “Rampage” opened to $55 million, until May 11. “Rampage” will probably need to capitalize on that extended gap in China to really turn a healthy profit.

In second place is the fantastic genre feature “A Quiet Place.” Last week’s $50-million opening came as a surprise, but its second weekend earnings of $32 million might be more impressive. Traditionally horror films fade quickly. “A Quiet Place” is certainly no traditional horror film. Considering my adoration of the film, it’s nice to see Paramount getting recognized with a bit of success for once. Shame that “Annihilation” did get the same kind of greeting. In just 10 days “A Quiet Place” has earned $99 million domestically against a $17-million budget.

Third place goes to “Truth or Dare,” the latest low-budget horror from Blumhouse Productions with $19 million. I liked certain members of the cast, but generally hated the film and its lack of originality and scares.

Rounding out the top five are the sex comedy “Blockers” with $10 million and Steven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” with $11 million. The sci-fi adventure has now earned $114 million domestically.

Other notable performances include “Black Panther” with $5.3 million for a worldwide total of $1.3 billion and Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” finished with $5 million for a domestic total of $18.4 million.