Zootopia’s small 33% second frame drop-off is on par with a number of past animated hits like Wreck-It Ralph and the original Ice Age. If it continues to demonstrate the same kind of “legs,” Zootopia, which has amassed a ten-day total of $142.6 million, has a real shot at passing $300 million. Paramount was originally panning to open a stop-motion animated version of The Little Prince next weekend, but postponed the debut, likely because of potential competition from Zootopia. Whatever the reason, the result is that Zootopia will not face any direct competition until the mid-April debut of Disney's live-action The Jungle Book.
Overseas Zootopia continues to do well, earning $83 million over the weekend for a worldwide total of $431.3 million. In China the film has already earned $113 million, with $60 million of that coming on its second weekend (2.5 times as much as made on its debut weekend).
Aided by strong reviews (91% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was produced by J.J. Abrams, who sees the film as a “spiritual successor” to the Abrams-produced 2010 Cloverfield, got off to a strong start with $1.8 million from Thursday previews. Once again there was a strong disconnect from the sterling reception 10 Cloverfield Lane received from the critics and the mediocre “B-“ CinemaScore the film received from an opening weekend audience that skewed male (61%) and older (68% over 25).
With that kind of audience reaction it is too early to determine the box office future of 10 Cloverfield Lane, which began its journey to the screen as a conventional hostage drama with a conventional title (The Cellar) before, in a bit of marketing genius, Abrams & Company at Bad Robot added a narrative connection to the 2010 found footage/monster movie Cloverfield.
In its fifth weekend in theaters Fox’s Deadpool dropped just 35.4% as it earned $10.8 million and brought its domestic cumulative to $328 million, which means that by this time next week the Merc with a Mouth saga will have passed Guardians of the Galaxy ($331.1 million) and become the #7 Marvel release all time. Deadpool has now earned $380 million overseas (without China) for a worldwide total of $708.1 million, which means that 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past’s franchise record of $747.9 is within reach.
The ”Gerard Butler-saves-the-President” thriller London Has Fallen and the Tina Fey comedy/drama Whiskey Tango Foxtrot debuted inauspiciously last weekend, but they fared a bit better this time around. London Has Fallen slipped 51%, but brought in an estimated $10.7 million for a strong fourth place finish, while Whiskey Tango Foxtrot fell just 38.3%, though its debut was so low that this weekend’s take was just $4.6 million.
The Lionsgate romantic comedy The Perfect Match didn’t have a strong opening—it made just $4.1 million, but at least it was only in 995 theaters. The Jesus biopic The Young Messiah earned just $3.4 million from 1,761 theaters, while the Sacha Baron Cohen-starring The Brothers Grimsby was an outright bomb bringing in just $3.15 million from 2,235 venues.
Be sure to check back here next week to see if dystopian YA novel adaptation, The Divergent Series: Allegiant will be able to unseat Zootopia.
