'A Quiet Place' Delivers Not So Quiet $50 Million Opening

With a $50 million debut, Paramount's A Quiet Place finished atop the weekend box office in impressive fashion and while Universal's Blockers didn't deliver even half of what A Quiet Place did, the film's $21 million debut was a solid start for the low budget R-rated comedy. The weekend also saw a very strong hold for Warner Bros.'s Ready Player One and Disney and Marvel's Black Panther topped Titanic this weekend to become the third highest grossing domestic release of all-time.

Paramount's horror/thriller A Quiet Place debuted with an estimated $50 million, topping the weekend box office and delivering the year's second largest three-day opening. The $17 million production was written and directed by John Krasinski who also starred in the feature alongside Emily Blunt, and it received nearly unanimous praise from critics while opening weekend audiences gave the film a "B+" CinemaScore. The opening weekend audience breakdown was 49% male vs. 51% female with 63% of the crowd coming in aged 25 or older. As for that $50 million figure, don't be surprised to see it climb a million or so once actuals arrive on Monday afternoon.

Looking ahead, the film's debut is larger than any film in the Conjuring franchise, topping the $41 million debut for The Conjuring and $40 million debut for its sequel. Both films went on to gross over $100 million with The Conjuring topping $135 million. The film's opening is also much higher than the $40 million debut for the smash hit Split, which went on to deliver nearly $140 million domestically just last year. Overall, the film's opening is one of the best all-time for a horror film, besting all but Paranormal Activity 3 in the Paranormal franchise, all the Insidious films and more.

Internationally, A Quiet Place rolled out in 40 markets this weekend and brought in an estimated $21 million, for a global debut over $70 million. Leading the way was the UK with an estimated $3.6 million followed by Mexico ($2.7m); Australia ($2m); Brazil ($1.9m); and Taiwan ($1.1m). Paramount reports the film's opening in these markets on a "like for like basis" is 79% ahead of Get Out, 70% ahead of Don't Breathe, 46% ahead of Lights Out, 14% ahead of The Conjuring and on par with Split. Major markets where the film has yet to open include Russia, Korea and Germany where it will release on April 12, followed by releases in Spain (April 20), France (June 20) and Japan (Oct 19).

Finishing in second is Warner Bros.'s Ready Player One with an estimated $25 million, dropping just 40% in its second weekend as the film's domestic gross now stands just shy of $97 million. The performance signals solid word of mouth, particularly considering the film opened over four days last weekend, which can often dampen a film's second weekend, but this one has clearly impressed audiences, encouraging others to see it.

Ready Player One's international roll-out held on strong as well, dropping ~35% in holdover markets (-39% excluding China) and generating an estimated $81.7 million this weekend from 65 territories. The film's international cume now totals nearly $295 million, pushing the worldwide tally to $391.3 million. The last key market the film has yet to open in is Japan, where it will debut on April 20.

Universal's R-rated comedy Blockers debuted in third with an estimated $21.4 million. The opening is on par with 2016's Neighbors 2 which went on to gross over $55 million and tops the $17 million opening for Game Night earlier this year, which has already gone on to deliver nearly $70 million domestically. The film received a "B" CinemaScore and the opening weekend audience was 51% female and 56% of the overall audience was over the age of 25.

Internationally, Blockers brought in an estimated $3.2 million from 15 markets following a small, five market debut last weekend. The film has 42 markets still to release including Germany next weekend.

Disney and Marvel's Black Panther dropped just 27% in its eighth weekend in release, delivering an estimated $8.4 million, pushing the film's domestic cume over $665 million. As a result, Black Panther has now topped Titanic to become the third highest grossing domestic release of all-time.

Internationally, Black Panther added an estimated $4.5 million this weekend for an international cume that now totals nearly $635 million for a worldwide gross just shy of $1.3 billion.

Rounding out the top five is Roadside's I Can Only Imagine, which added theaters for the third weekend in a row and dropped just 20%, delivering an estimated $8.35 million. The film's domestic cume is now just shy of $70 million.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Entertainment Studios' Chappaquiddick outperformed expectations and debuted with an estimated $6.2 million from 1,560 locations. The film received a "B" CinemaScore from opening day audiences with the studio reporting the film performed best with audiences aged 55 and over.

Fox Searchlight's Isle of Dogs rounded out the top ten with an estimated $4.6 million as it expanded into 554 locations (+389) for a domestic cume now totaling $12 million. The film will expand nationwide next weekend, playing in 100 markets in ~1,750 theaters.

Just outside the top ten is the last of the weekend's new wide releases in Mirror and LD Entertainment's The Miracle Season, which took in an estimated $4.1 million from 1,707 locations. The film received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.

Also of note, Sony's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle added an estimated $430,000 this weekend, pushing the film's domestic cume to $403.6 million, just $65k shy of Spider-Man and becoming the studio's largest domestic grossing release of all-time. Additionally, the film opened in Japan this weekend, its final international market, and brought in an estimated $3.9 million as its international cume rises to $546 million for a worldwide tally just shy of $950 million.

In limited release, Amazon Studios's You Were Never Really Here led the way in terms of per theater averages, bringing in an estimated $129,911 from three theaters, averaging $43,304 per. A24's Lean on Pete had a solid debut with an estimated $50,118 from four locations for a $12,530 per theater average.

Other limited releases include Well Go's The Endless with an estimated $8,600 from one theater; Great Point's Where is Kyra? brought in an estimated $7,000, also from one location; and Hannover's Blood Feast opened with $4,020 from the the Laemmle Fine Arts theatre in Beverly Hills.

Next weekend Neon will debut Borg vs. McEnroe; Warner Bros. and New Line will release Rampage starring Dwayne Johnson into over 3,950 locations; Fun Academy will be releasing the animated feature Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero; and Universal will release Blumhouse's latest horror feature Truth or Dare into ~3,000 theaters.