VICTORY FOR M. NIGHT SHYALAMAN! SPLIT still leads the weekend box!

Paramount’s Rings and STX’s teen romance The Space Between Us which are respectively opening to $12.8M in second and $3.8M in seventh..


The entire concept of RINGS appears to be oddly disjointed anyway.. it has been 15 years since the original VHS related horror flick. The mess of this film attempts to bind together early century technology with modern file sharing, and what could have been a clever homage to some other time and age turns into a clunky pile of 21st century junk..

But guess what’s first? Pretty exciting news for an M Night Shyalaman fan like myself: SPLIT is still in the lead box -- three weeks now and running..

And it’s actually the first title in Shyamalan’s resume to hold the No. 1 spot at the B.O. for three weeks in a row since 1999’s The Sixth Sense! Talk about old style century tech getting its revenge!


Good show M NIGHT..

SPLIT was a good film with (to me) not the greatest ending of M Night’s career.. but he was setting Philadelphia up for a sequel whether the King of Prussia mall is ready for it or not.. Bruce Willis is.

Late night estimates put Split at $14.7M for the weekend, and a running cume by Sunday of $98.8M, -8% behind Sixth Sense at the same point in time..

Prognosticators don’t think that SPLIT outshines SENSE, as a matter of fact by Valentine’s Day plenty of other films--included animated and a lot of SHADES of gray--will fill theaters..

The predictions for the final tallies:

1.) Split (UNI/Blumhouse) 3,373 theaters (+174) /$4.8M Fri (-39%)/3-day: $14.7M (-43%)/Total: $98.8M/Wk 3

2.) Rings (Par) 2,931 theaters /$5.2M Fri. (includes $800K previews)/3-day: $12.8/Wk 1

3.) Hidden Figures (Fox) 3,401 theaters (+50)/$3M Fri (-20%) /3-day: $10.4M (-26%)/Total: $119.7M/Wk 7

4.) A Dog’s Purpose (UNI/Amblin/Walden) 3,178 theaters (+120)/$2.8M Fri (-46%) /3-day: $10.1m (-45%)/Total: $32.1/Wk 2

5.) La La Land (Lionsgate) 3,236 (+100) /$2.3M Fri (-31%)/3-day:$8.2m (-33%)/Total:$119.1M/ Wk 9

6.) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (SONY) 3,104 theaters (0) /$1.36M Fri (-73%) / 3-day: $4M (-71%)/Total: $21.4M/Wk 2

7.) The Space Between Us (STX) 2,812 theaters /$1.48M Fri. (includes $170K previews)/3-day: $3.8M/Wk 1

8/9) Sing (ILL/UNI), 2,293 theaters (-409) /$905K Fri.(-33%) /3-day cume: $3.75M (-41%)/Total: $262.6M/Wk 7

Lion (TWC) 1,405 theaters (+830) /$1.1K Fri (+83%) /3-day: $3.75M (+63%)/Total: $24.4M/Wk 11

10.) xXx: The Return Xander Cage (PAR/REV) 2,478 theaters (-1,178) /$1.1M Fri (-50%)/3-day: $3.6M (-58%)/Total: $39.9M/ Wk 3

THE BEAST soars high again: SPLIT reigns for second weekend

THE BEAST soars again..

For the second week in a row, SPLIT reigned high at the box office, delivering another decisive victory for M Night Shyamalan.

From BOX OFFICE MOJO:

SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Looking to hold on to the number one spot with ease, Universal’s Split brought in an estimated $7.9 million on Friday and is looking at an impressive $25+ million second weekend.

Landing in second on Friday is Universal’s A Dog’s Purpose with an estimated $5.3 million as it looks as if it will finish around $18.5 million for the three-day weekend.

Screen Gems’s release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is projected to take in $13.7 - $14 million for the weekend after taking in an estimated $5.1 million on Friday.

The stories and video about dogs from DOG’S PURPOSE being treated questionably probably didn’t help the film–and with the cloudy month we had we are sad enough without watching a movie about dogs dying continuously.. 

That said, I also loved the movie SPLIT.. The ending wasn’t the twist I completely have come to love with M Night, but it worked for the film and the atmosphere presented about a city of Philadelphia under siege from 24 personalities without knowing it..

James McAvoy was impressive, completely impressive. Anna Taylor Joy was as well–as usual M Night cast the film with the perfect people to perform the roles necessary..

This is also a much needed victory for M Night Shyalaman, so many films now he has been hit was criticism.. 

I have loved each movie he made–even the ones others didn’t..

So happy to see SPLIT performing well..

Weekend final numbers for this week: 

• Split (3,199 theaters) - $18.8 M
• A Dog’s Purpose (3,058 theaters) - $18.0 M
• Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (3,104 theaters) - $12.2 M
• Hidden Figures (3,351 theaters) - $11.6 M
• xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (3,651 theaters) - $11.0 M
• La La Land (3,136 theaters) - $10.0 M
• Sing (2,690 theaters) - $5.4 M
• Gold (2,166 theaters) - $4.1 M
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2,049 theaters) - $4.0 M
• Monster Trucks (2,496 theaters) - $3.5 M