Box office: Logan slays, The Shack over performs

Box office report: Logan claws to the top, The Shack builds solid opening

Published on March 5, 2017 03:42PM EST

Hugh Jackman is bowing out of the X-Men franchise on a high note.

Logan, the final installment in the actor’s trio of Wolverine spinoffs, roars atop the North American box office this weekend, amassing an estimated $85.3 million over its first three days despite overall domestic totals trailing last year’s by 2 percent, according to comScore’s tracking data. The number stands as the best ever posted by an R-rated title for the month of March.

The James Mangold-directed superhero flick, which had its world premiere in February at Berlinale, averages $20,953 from its 4,071 locations to tally the fourth highest opening weekend in history for a March release. The film also landed with critics and audiences, earning a 77 percent on Metacritic, light Oscar buzz, and an A- grade from polled moviegoers on CinemaScore.

The $97 million production additionally posts $152.5 million from international markets, bringing its global total to a whopping $237.8 million to date — $20.6 million of which comes from IMAX screens, which catapult the film to the format’s No. 2 spot on the all-time R-rated worldwide box office list (falling just short of Deadpool‘s $24.4 million IMAX launch).

Dipping a slight 22 percent from its stellar $33.4 million opening, Jordan Peele’s racially charged thriller Get Out holds audience attention for the second weekend in a row, making an impressive $26.1 million over its sophomore frame. The micro-budgeted $4.5 million film has now made $75.9 million in the U.S. and Canada after just 10 days in theaters.

Hot off her hosting gig on last night’s edition of Saturday Night Live, Octavia Spencer lands her second film in the domestic top 10 this weekend, as The Shack bows to an impressive $16.1 million at No. 3 — four slots ahead of Hidden Figures, which scored the actress the distinction of being the first black, Oscar-winning actress to secure a follow-up nod from the Academy in January.

Lionsgate’s targeted marketing campaign — which included specific outreach to religious audiences around the country — paid off, as the film averages an A-grade on CinemaScore and $5,574 from 2,888 sites for an opening above those of similarly themed films like 2016’s Miracles From Heaven ($14.8 million) and 2014’s God’s Not Dead ($9.2 million).

Warner Bros. Animation’s The LEGO Batman Movie adds another $11.7 million to its ballooning $148.6 million national total at No. 4, while the YA-adapted drama Before I Fall slightly exceeds expectations, rounding out the top five with an estimated $5 million.

Outside the top 10, the Academy’s reigning best picture champion, Moonlight, reaps its best three-day gross of its 20-week theatrical run, earning around $2.5 million after expanding to 1,564 theaters Friday. The festival favorite has made $25.38 million thus far and is poised to overtake 2015’s Ex Machina ($25.44 million) as distributor A24’s top earner in the days ahead.

Elsewhere, the Anna Kendrick comedy Table 19 pulls in a meager $1.6 million from 868 theaters, while Shirley MacLaine’s The Last Word averages a decent $8,905 at four sites for a limited $35,620 opening.

Check out the March 3-5 box office estimates below.