By the end of Friday,Black Pantherhad racked up another $16.3 million to add onto its frankly gargantuan domestic take. That was way more than enough to easily keep the Marvel juggernaut at the top of the box office asRed Sparrow, this weekend’s most prominent wide release, brought in some $6 million to arrive in the second spot. Indeed, as I suspected whenBlack Pantheropened, it won’t be until next weekend’s release ofA Wrinkle in Time- another major Disney release - thatRyan Coogler’s extravagant hit will see some real competition.
This is an oddly complex situation for any moviegoer who is aware of the movie industry outside of the movies themselves. To see Coogler andAva DuVernay, two of the best American filmmakers currently working, putting major works out under the Disney banner with diverse casts is an unprecedented and long-awaited step forward in terms of Hollywood representation for black people. On the other hand, Disney’s increasingly tight stranglehold on the industry has never been more clear and if the Fox deal does indeed go through, their influence on the movie business will simply be without rival. That being said, it also gives other big studios a reason to branch out and get more ambitious with their projects, seeking out directors, casts, and stories that don’t speak primarily to white, middle-class, and predominantly male audiences.
If such a far-off world existed now, one might have never had to confront the fact that people of influence funded and released a remake ofDeath Wishthat doubles down on the absolute worst ideas that came out of the not-very-good original. The new film, which starsBruce Willisin the role of an upper-middle-class professional who becomes a vigilante after his family is fatally attacked, landed in third on Friday with $4.2 million, which at the very least suggests that this will likely be its first and only weekend in the top five. It’s also likely the last weekend we’ll seeGame Night, which came in at fourth with $3 million, andPeter Rabbit, which is currently in fifth with a little over $2 million, in the top five, depending on howGringo,Strangers: Prey at Night, andThe Hurricane Heistdo next weekend. Still, the bigger question remains: WillA Wrinkle in Timebe able to toppleBlack Panther,even after three weekends of wide release? Stay tuned.
Here’s the top five at the box office for Friday:
Friday Domestic BO
Total Domestic BO
1. ‘Black Panther’
$16,304,000
$451,704,037
2. ’Red Sparrow’
$6,025,000
3. ‘Death Wish’
$4,275,000
4. ‘Game Night’
$3,035,000
$25,862,766
5. ‘Peter Rabbit’
$2,075,000
$76,135,376
