Box Office: 'Rampage' Barely Beats 'A Quiet Place'
After much nail biting and hand wringing, it looks like "Rampage," Dwayne Johnson's destruction-filled adaptation of the classic arcade game, won the box office race with $34.5 million. For a while it looked like John Krasinski's horror tale "A Quiet Place" would take the top spot (especially given the inherent spookiness of a Friday the 13th weekend), but that ended up at #2 with $32.6 million, which is still admirably impressive (it's down just 35% from last weekend) and puts it just below the vaulted $100 million mark. (Unlike the $120 million+ "Rampage," "A Quiet Place" had a modest budget of just $17 million.)
Elsewhere, newcomer "Truth or Dare" from Universal and horror hitmaker Blumhouse, surprised by over-performing with $19 million, enough to put it in the #3 spot, ahead of Steven Spielberg's whirligig "Ready Player One," which in its third week remains in the top 5 with $11.2 million. So far, Spielberg's nostalgia-filled joyride has collected just north of $114.6 million, which is great but not terrific considering its steep $175 million production costs (and that's before you consider what Warner Bros. spent marketing the movie).
Universal's R-rated comedy "Blockers" rounded out the top 5 with $10.3 million, bringing its total to $36.9 million. It also is worth nothing that Marvel Studios' "Black Panther" was #6 despite a big push earlier in the week to announce the movie's home video release in May. Disney is telling people "it's coming to your living room" and they're still rushing out to the theaters to see it (it's down just 39% from the week before). That's truly incredible. Also incredible: its $673.7 million domestic haul. Way to go Wakanda.
What did you watch this weekend? Let us know!