Box Office: Spilt continues at No.1; A Dog’s Purpose and Resident Evil solid

• Scott J. Davis


• 30 Jan 2017

US cinemagoers cannot get enough of the new M. Night Shyamalan film Split, with the thriller topping the US box office for the second straight week and on its way to becoming one of the director’s biggest successes (via Box Office Mojo).

Starring James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy, Split earned an estimated $26.26millon on its second weekend of release, dropping just 34% and performing well above industry expectations. It raises the film’s total to around $78million through its ten-day release thus far, and has topped $100million worldwide. Not bad for a film that cost a reported $9million.

In second place was A Dog’s Purpose, Universal’s drama that has been ensconced in controversy in recent weeks. But despite that surrounding it, the film did open in line with expectations, taking in around $18.38million from 3,059 theatres. Whether the controversy will affect its run going forward remains to be seen.

Also released this weekend was Screen Gems’ latest entry in its Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, but the film could only muster a fourth place finish with an estimated $13.85million and as such was the smallest opening weekend in the series. Still, its success lies overseas and has so far grossed $64.5million from its international opening so far.

Fox’s Hidden Figures continues to impress and has this weekend passed the $100million mark. Adding another $14million, the film has exceeded many expectations and has been one of the big success of the festive/awards season.

The same can be said for La La Land, which expanded to over 3.136 theatres this weekend and grossed around $12million. Indeed it too has passed the $100million mark ($106.5million) and worldwide has now topped a fantastic $223million.

Not such good news for Matthew McConaughey and his new film Gold, which sadly didn’t find much of an audience. Opening in 2,166 theatres, the comedy-drama could only muster $3.47million and will struggle to top the $10million at this rate.