Ready Player One Scores 2018's Second Biggest Box Office Debut

Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One has earned the second-biggest box office opening of 2018 so far, grossing $53.2 million in its first four days. Outside of the juggernaut that is Black Panther , several of this year's new arrivals have struggled to make much of an impact commercially, including many of March's genre picks. As Marvel's latest worked its way up the all-time charts, the likes of A Wrinkle in Time , Tomb Raider , and Pacific Rim Uprising performed far more modestly due to their mixed word-of-mouth. Because of the weak competition, Panther stayed on top for five consecutive weekends – a feat we haven't seen since Avatar.

Fortunately for the marketplace, things seemed to be trending upwards with the arrival of a new Spielberg film. Once a threat to break records, the legendary director hasn't been a box office titan in quite some time. However, Ready Player One was poised to score the filmmaker's largest opening weekend in 10 years , with the estimates suggesting a haul in the range of $50 million . That's precisely what happened, and Spielberg looks to have another hit on his résumé.

Per Box Office Mojo , Ready Player One's Thursday-Sunday total stands at $53.2 million. Of that, $41.2 million was accumulated over the normal three-day weekend. Obviously, this doesn't hold a candle to Black Panther's record-shattering $242.1 million 4-day opening, but Ready Player One has come out of the gates as one of the year's more successful movies.

It'll be interesting to see how strong the film's legs are as its run continues. Reviews were mostly positive, with Ready Player One securing a Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but not everyone is in love with it. Even though Spielberg elevated the source material in his adaptation, some viewers are turned off by the story's concept and Easter egg overload , preferring instead to watch the films that inspired Ready Player One.

The next couple of weeks see some high-profile works open, too. Horror film A Quiet Place (which earned raves out of SXSW) premieres April 6, with Rampage (headlined by Dwayne Johnson) following on April 13. Both of those should be sizable draws, which could take away business from Ready Player One. Still, Spielberg's film looks to be in solid shape for a fruitful run. Its global total of $181.2 million has already surpassed the $175 million production budget.

Last week's champ, Pacific Rim Uprising, took a massive 67.3 percent drop-off and came in fifth during its second weekend. So far, the sequel is only at $45.6 million domestically. The top five was rounded out by newcomer Acrimony ($17.1 million), Black Panther ($11.2 million), and I Can Only Imagine ($10.7 million). Panther raised its U.S. total to $650.6 million, coming close on the heels of Jurassic World and Titanic.