'Pacific Rim Uprising' Kicks 'Black Panther' From Box Office Throne

Movie

The 'Pacific Rim' sequel dethrones the Marvel superhero film after five weeks sitting at the top of the chart.

Mar 26, 2018

AceShowbiz - There's a new conqueror on North American box office. Universal Pictures and Legendary Entertainment's "Pacific Rim Uprising" opened to approximately $28 million at 3,708 locations, beating Marvel and Disney's "Black Panther" which sat at the throne for five straight weekends.

Although "Pacific Rim Uprising" managed to rise as a new champion on the chart, the movie opened with a softer debut than its predecessor which bowed to $37.3 million when it was released in July 2013. In foreign territories, where the original "Pacific Rim" was more popular than in the U.S., the sequel is expected to collect around $122.5 million this weekend, with $65 million coming from China market.

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight who took over the duty from original "Pacific Rim" director Guillermo Del Toro, "Uprising" stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood and Rinko Kikuchi. It got panned by critics and received a B CinemaScore.

Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst at comScore, says, " 'Pacific Rim Uprising', much like its 2013 predecessor, will rely heavily on the international box office to justify the sizable investment required to produce such a large scale, effects driven sci-fi epic." He adds, "Having earned almost four and half times more internationally in its debut as compared to North America, 'Uprising' was clearly built from the ground up to capitalize on the huge interest that international, and in particular China-based, audiences have in this brand and this type of moviegoing experience."

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Meanwhile, "Black Panther" stays solid on its sixth weekend, adding an estimated $16.7 million in North America (dropping 37.5%) and $12.9 million overseas for a worldwide total of $1.24 billion so far. The movie has become the highest-grossing superhero movie in the U.S., not adjusted for inflation.

"I Can Only Imagine" holds on to its last week's position at No. 3 with additional $13.8 million on its second weekend. New release "Sherlock Gnomes" debuted at No. 4 with approximately $10.6 million, lower than initial tracking estimates between $13 million to $18 million off its $59 million budget.

The new "Tomb Raider" movie starring Alicia Vikander drops three places from No. 2 to No. 5 with an estimated $10.4 million. Biblical movie "Paul, Apostle of Christ" opened to an estimated $5 million over Palm Sunday weekend.

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