Back‘Lego Batman’ beats ‘Great Wall’ in US long weekend sales
Lego Batman, a family-friendly animated hit from Warner Bros., collected an estimated $42.7 million in US and Canadian theatres over the four-day period
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Los Angeles: The Lego Batman Movie led the US box office for the second weekend in a row, beating new releases including Matt Damon’s Chinese fantasy The Great Wall and rapper Ice Cube’s comedy Fist Fight over the long weekend.
The family-friendly animated hit from Warner Bros. collected an estimated $42.7 million in the US and Canadian theatres over the four-day period, ComScore Inc. said Tuesday in a statement. Among new releases, The Great Wall from Universal Pictures, landed in the third place with sales of $21.5 million, while Fist Fight, also from Warner Bros., was placed fifth and Lion was 10th.
The Great Wall didn’t block the ongoing popularity of Lego Batman. The picture, made by Comcast Corp.’s Universal and the Legendary Entertainment division of China’s Dalian Wanda Group Co., is a test of US interest in Chinese culture and mythology, as well as production partnerships between movie companies in the two countries. Other studios plan releases with Chinese filmmakers.
The Great Wallfollows crack troops fighting beasts called Tao Tie (TAO TEE-YAY), a symbol of greed in Chinese folklore. Damon stars as a European mercenary who joins the Chinese fighters defending the wall. The picture was expected to bring in $17.5 million in domestic sales through Monday, the estimate of analysts at BoxOfficePro.com.
The movie had already been released internationally. Total estimated worldwide sales so far for the movie top $266 million, according to Box Office Mojo. It cost about $150 million to make and garnered just 36% positive reviews at RottenTomatoes.com, which aggregates critics’ reviews.
Among other new releases, ‘Fist Fight’ generated sales of $14.1 million through Monday, in line with a forecast of $14 million. Ice Cube plays a fired teacher who challenges a coworker to fight after school. The Warner Bros. picture, with an estimated price tag of $22 million, got a 32% favourable rating at RottenTomatoes.com.
A Cure for Wellness, a thriller from 20th Century Fox, brought in $5 million. Dane DeHaan stars as a young executive sent to retrieve his CEO from a mysterious spa. The $40 million production was expected to generate $6.9 million over the long weekend, according to BoxOfficePro. Reviews were 37% positive at RottenTomatoes.
Among the other returning films, Universal’s Fifty Shades Darker landed in second place with sales of $22.7 million, and John Wick: Chapter 2, from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., placed fourth with sales of $19 million. Bloomberg
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