The early weekend box office numbers are in and, as expected, one movie among all others managed to hit hard. Here’s what went down:
The live action version of Disney’s classic Cinderella had a fantastic opening weekend, debuting in first place with $72 million. This one definitely had an audience desperate for family fare, and with some decent reviews going along with it, Kenneth Branagh’s film certainly scored and scored big time. I don’t think anyone really ever thought of Branagh as a blockbuster film director, but with two big hits with Thor and now Cinderella under his belt, he’s certainly become a go-to for Disney. Could a return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe be next? With this sort of acclaim, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Opening in a very distant second place was Run All Night with Liam Neeson, which could only muster up $10 million. That’s a far cry from previous Neeson openings, which makes one wonder if the actor needs to back off a little bit from the action genre.
As for the rest of the top five, Kingsman: The Secret Service continued its winning ways, placing third with 6.2 million as it crossed over the $100 million mark. In fourth place was Focus with $5.9 million, while closing things out in fifth was The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel with $5.7 million.
As for CHAPPiE, that movie crashed and burned hard in its second weekend, dropping from first to sixth place with $5.2 million.
So, to recap, here were our predictions:
1) Cinderella – $62 million
2) Run All Night – $14 million
3) CHAPPiE – $7.5 million
4) Focus – $7 million
5) Kingsman: The Secret Service – $4.3 million
And here’s how the weekend turned out:
1) Cinderella – $72 million
2) Run All Night – $10 million
3) Kingsman: The Secret Service– $6.2 million
4) Focus – $5.9 million
5) The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – $5.7 million
Next weekend sees the release of Insurgent, Do You Believe? and The Gunman. Be sure to check back on Friday to see our predictions.