Marvel’s Black Panther continues to light the box office on fire, retaining its hold on the top of the chart for the third weekend in a row. The critically acclaimed comic book-inspired action drama has passed the $500 million mark, joining the exclusive list of films to pass that milestone and entering the Top 10 chart just behind #9’s Beauty and the Beast. By the end of Black Panther‘s theatrical run, it will likely be challenging The Avengers ($623 million), Jurassic World ($652 million) and Titanic ($659 million) for a spot in the top 5 all-time domestic box office performers.
Finishing in second place, Fox’s spy thriller Red Sparrow rang up $17 million over its first three days in release. The R-rated drama is based Jason Matthews’ novel which Justin Haythe (A Cure for Wellness) adapted for the screen. Jennifer Lawrence reunited with her Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence to play a dancer forced into becoming a spy. Critics have been split on the film and it currently stands at 51% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were kinder, giving it a B according to Cinemascore.
The weekend’s other newcomer, Death Wish, settled for a third place finish. Starring Bruce Willis, the action thriller earned a B+ average from audiences but failed to connect with critics who overwhelming voted it a rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Up next: Disney will be releasing the much-anticipated A Wrinkle in Time starring Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, and Mindy Kaling on March 9, 2018. Gringo with Charlize Theron, The Hurricane Heist starring Ryan Kwanten, and the horror sequel, Strangers: Prey at Night, are also set to enter theaters on March 9th.
Box Office Top 10: March 2-4, 2018
- Black Panther – $65,705,000
- Red Sparrow – $17,000,000
- Death Wish – $13,025,000
- Game Night – $10,710,000
- Peter Rabbit – $10,000,000
- Annihilation – $5,650,000
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle – $4,500,000
- Fifty Shades Freed – $3,310,000
- The Greatest Showman – $2,675,000
- Every Day – $1,560,029
The Black Panther Plot: Black Panther follows T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) who, after the events of Captain America: Civil War, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T’Challa’s mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk.
Red Sparrow Plot: Dominika Egorova is many things. A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs. A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit. A master of seductive and manipulative combat.
When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust.
