LOS ANGELES -- Goofy superhero kids' toys beat kinky whips and bondage at movie theaters this weekend as The LEGO Batman Movie topped Fifty Shades Darker for the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office.
Warner Bros.' LEGO Movie spinoff grossed about $53 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters from Friday through Sunday, according to studio estimates, proving the unexpected success of the 2014 original comedy was not a fluke.
The opening result for LEGO Batman, a sendup of the DC Comics character, was slightly lower than the $60 million to $65 million analysts predicted last week. Yet it was still a strong start for a movie that cost an estimated $80 million to make, considerably less expensive than the typical animated feature.
In international markets, LEGO Batman made an estimated $37 million over the weekend.
Reviews for The LEGO Batman Movie, featuring the voice of Will Arnett as the growling billionaire vigilante, have been overwhelmingly positive, which bodes well for the movie's prospects in the coming weeks, not to mention future LEGO cartoons from the studio.
"We were so excited when the LEGO Movie launched a whole franchise in 2014, and to see this first standalone film take off like this is pretty cool for us," said Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros. "We're getting everybody. We're of course getting young families, but we're also getting 'tweens, teens and adults."
Universal Pictures' Fifty Shades of Grey sequel, meanwhile, settled for second place with about $47 million in ticket sales in North America through Sunday, a solid result for a movie that cost less than $60 million to make.
The debut was considerably lower than the stellar opening for the original, which was released during a four-day weekend when the E.L. James erotic novel series was at the height of its popularity. The opening for the first film topped $93 million over a long weekend that coincided with Valentine's Day and Washington's Birthday. The followup also cost more to produce.
Yet Nick Carpou, Universal Pictures' domestic distribution president, said the picture should continue to play well during the Valentine's Day week and the forthcoming four-day weekend, especially among females, who made up 70 percent of the audience for Fifty Shades Darker. The movie also proved popular abroad, bringing in $100 million from countries outside the United States and Canada.
"We have a good chance of continuing to be very relevant next weekend," Carpou said. "This is a win for the franchise."
By far the biggest surprise was John Wick: Chapter 2, which took in about $30 million in its debut, close to double what the original made in 2014. The healthy result easily topped industry projections of $20 million.
The first John Wick, introducing Keanu Reeves as a highly effective former hit man who comes out of retirement in a revenge-fueled killing rampage, was a modest performer at theaters but became a cult favorite on home video among young men and video gamers.
The three new wide releases provided a much-desired boost to the movie industry during the weekend before Valentine's Day, coming after a dismal Super Bowl weekend that delivered a pair of disappointments in Rings and The Space Between Us.
Strong holdovers also gave theater owners reason to be happy. M. Night Shyamalan's Split, the hit thriller from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions, finally yielded the No. 1 perch after three weeks at the top, and fell to fourth place. The film, starring James McAvoy as a villain with multiple personalities, added $9.5 million to its take, bringing its total domestic gross to about $112 million.
In fifth place was Hidden Figures, the Oscar-nominated space race drama about black women in the early days of NASA. The film from 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment earned $8 million for a cumulative total of about $131 million.
Among Oscar contenders, the Weinstein Co.'s Lion, starring Dev Patel as an adopted Indian child on a mission to find his birth mother, continued to gain momentum at the box office. The drama scored about $4 million Friday through Sunday, making its domestic total $30.2 million after 12 weeks in theaters.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:
The LEGO Batman Movie, Warner Bros., $53,003,468, 4,088 locations, $12,966 average, $53,003,468, one week.
Fifty Shades Darker, Universal, $46,607,250, 3,710 locations, $12,563 average, $46,607,250, one week.
John Wick: Chapter 2, Lionsgate, $30,436,123, 3,113 locations, $9,777 average, $30,436,123, one week.
Split, Universal, $9,525,935, 2,961 locations, $3,217 average, $112,498,205, four weeks.
Hidden Figures, 20th Century Fox, $8,002,670, 2,667 locations, $3,001 average, $131,454,920, eight weeks.
A Dog's Purpose, Universal, $7,271,430, 3,025 locations, $2,404 average, $42,501,105, three weeks.
Rings, Paramount, $5,649,575, 2,931 locations, $1,928 average, $21,321,861, two weeks.
La La Land, Lionsgate, $4,943,811, 2,065 locations, $2,394 average, $125,954,156, 10 weeks.
Lion, The Weinstein Co., $3,950,610, 1,337 locations, $2,955 average, $30,236,332, 12 weeks.
Sing, Universal, $1,703,625, 1,479 locations, $1,152 average, $265,408,620, eight weeks.
The Space Between Us, STX Entertainment, $1,686,364, 2,758 locations, $611 average, $6,511,522, two weeks.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount, $1,514,592, 1,178 locations, $1,286 average, $43,126,640, four weeks.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney, $1,495,988, 929 locations, $1,610 average, $527,162,956, nine weeks.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Screen Gems, $1,386,438, 1,213 locations, $1,143 average, $25,251,868, three weeks.
I Am Not Your Negro, Magnolia Pictures, $820,831, 115 locations, $7,138 average, $1,839,871, two weeks.
Jolly LLB 2, Fox International Productions, $774,355, 173 locations, $4,476 average, $774,355, one week.
Moana, Disney, $734,927, 461 locations, $1,594 average, $243,189,793, 12 weeks.
The Founder, The Weinstein Co., $723,998, 454 locations, $1,595 average, $11,205,243, four weeks.
Fences, Paramount, $723,054, 454 locations, $1,593 average, $53,943,781, nine weeks.
Manchester by the Sea, Roadside Attractions, $702,053, 454 locations, $1,546 average, $45,102,041, 13 weeks.
MovieStyle on 02/17/2017