Weekend Box Office Update: The Witch Lands in 4th Place
Good vs. Evil. Jesus vs. Satan. The greatest of all rivalries played out once more at the box office this weekend, and the winner proved to be the red man known for his flippant demeanor and homicidal impulses. Deadpool, not the Devil, silly.
Just how much of a runaway blockbuster has Deadpool proven to be? Let’s put it this way: Deadpool marks Ryan Reynolds fifth attempt at a comic book franchise. It has now grossed more money than Blade Trinity, R.I.P.D., and Green Lantern combined – and that’s just domestically. We’ll probably be able to add X-Men Origins: Wolverine (featuring Reynolds’ first stab at Deadpool) to that list soon enough.
With Kung Fu Panda holding well in second place, that brings us to the main event of Good vs. Evil, and as the box office dust settles, a winner has Risen. According to Deadline, Sony’s (surprisingly good) entry into the Christian movie sweepstakes took 3rd place with about $11.8 million for the weekend. An A- minus Cinemascore, plus the Easter season, will probably keep it doing solid business for the next couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, The Witch (review) may have had to settle for 4th place, but an $8.7 million opening for a horror movie with no name stars that’s far more arthouse than Blumhouse could probably be hailed as a minor miracle unto itself. A24’s gamble appears to have paid off. However, The Witch is proving to be one of those horror movies that bitterly divides audiences. Branded with a very negative C- Cinemascore, the movie I’ve jokingly described as “Ken Russell’s The Crucible” may not be connecting with a certain section of the moviegoing public due to its lack of excessive gore or jump scares, snarky teenagers making pop culture quips, and honestly, wouldn’t it have been better if it was found footage?
Funny thing is I suspect many of the same people walking out of The Witch complaining it was overrated or just plain sucks will probably be the same people who will soon be walking out of the Saw reboot and the Leatherface prequel bitching about Hollywood not making any original horror movies anymore.
Why can’t we have nice things, people?
Anyway, cheers to The Witch, which can at least go to its grave saying that in the box office race it still managed to outpace Jesse Owens (Race finished 6th).
The coming weekend heralds the arrival of Gods of Egypt, a movie I think I’m going to have to review just because so many Dread Central readers keeps telling me I should. Otherwise, we will all have to wait two more weekends to finally find out what is on The Other Side of the Door.
Categorized:News
