Things begin to get a little crowded at the box office this week and it’s not because there’s a large spate of high-profile wide releases, mind you. Where most Marvel and DC movies tend to have at least two weeks to hold court at the box office,Loganis now facing off against another beloved franchise withKong: Skull Island, an interesting and amiable but sloppy take on the (other) king of the monsters. Last year,Captain America: Civil War,Doctor Strange, andBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceruled for two weekends;DeadpoolandSuicide Squadheld the throne for three. OnlyX-Men: Apocalypsewas kicked out of the top spot in its second weekend, afterTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadowsslid into first.
It’s unclear now if this is howLogan, one of the better Fox-Marvel collaborations, will end up but as of right now, Kong is indeed king.Kong: Skull Islandtook in some $20.2 million on Friday after an admirable $3.7 million in late-night Thursday showings. In comparison,Logantook in $10.5 million on Friday, setting up a weekend that will end with an estimated $35 million for the latestX-Menadventure, if the prognosticators are on point. There was plenty of talk during this week and even last week thatLogancould have bulldozedKongin terms of simple name recognition -Loganhas a long and quite current mythology to tap into thatKongsimply does not. It’s now looking likeKongwill indeed beat out the Wolverine by the end of the weekend.
The question now becomes whether or notKong: Skull Islandwill be able to make its money back in the long term, which has little to do with whether or notKongwins the weekend. The movie cost upwards of $185 million to make, and that’s not even getting into advertising, distribution, and the like that would likely ratchet that number up to something closer to $225 million, roughly. This puts immense pressure on international numbers for the Legendary-Warner Bros. film, as the movie will certainly drop down a few rungs next weekend with the release ofBeauty and the Beast. If it can climb its way to $100 million before heading out of theaters, there’s a chance but it’s not going to be a walk in the park in anyone’s imagination. As always, we shall see.
Here’s the top five at the box office on Friday:
Friday Total
To-Date Total
1. ‘Kong: Skull Island’
$20.2 Million
$23.9 Million
2. ‘Logan’
$10.3 Million
$125.1 Million
3. ‘Get Out’
$6 Million
$95.9 Million
4. ‘The Shack’
$2.6 Million
$24.8 Million
5. ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’
$1.7 Million
$152.9 Million
