Weekend Box Office: 'Ready Player One' Wins Easter Egg Hunt With $53M

The sci-fi adventure marks director Steven Spielberg's biggest opening in a decade; Tyler Perry's 'Acrimony' places No. 2 with $17M, while 'God's Not Dead 3' falters at the alter.


Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One — his self-proclaimed return to popcorn fare — easily won the box office Easter egg hunt, grossing $41.2 million to score the holiday's biggest opening ever for a non-sequel.


That brings the movie's four-day opening to a better-than-expected $53.2 million after launching a day early on Thursday. Still, the verdict is out on whether Ready One Player is a victory, considering its hefty production budget of at least $175 million, before marketing.


Overseas, the male-skewing film opened to $128 million — fueled by $61.7 million from China — for a global bow of $181.2 million. It is the biggest China opening in Warners' history, surpassing Batman v. Justice: Dawn of Justice ($57 million).


And the sci-fi adventure marks Spielberg's biggest domestic opening since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($100.1 million) a decade ago, helping to ease the sting of his big-budget family film The BFG, which failed to resonate with audiences in summer 2016, opening to $18.8 million.


Ready Player One secured the second-best opening of the year so far behind Black Panther. It's also the best number for an original film from Spielberg since Jurassic Park ($47 million) in 1993, not adjusted for inflation.


Eager to be in business with Spielberg and possibly birth a new franchise, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures partnered on Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline's pop-culture-laced novel about a teen's quest to win control over a virtual universe. The movie is infused with references to the 1980s, including numerous nods to popular movies (including a few from Spielberg himself).


"Spielberg is an extraordinary filmmaker and he really geeks out on this stuff. I don't know anyone else who could have made this movie," says Warners domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein. "Ready Player One's opening beat expectations and now it's all about playability. It is definitely eyed as something that could have sequel opportunities. The discussion was always, 'let's see how the first one does.'"


Ready Player One — which had a major presence at the recent SXSW film festival –— came in ahead of other comparable films, including the pricey miss Ender's Game, which opened to $27.1 million in 2013. Between 61 percent and 65 percent of ticket buyers were male. Imax theaters turned in an impressive $6.6 million in North America.


Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts, a young man who gets caught up in the virtual-reality game known as the OASIS, which was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). Watts and his friends are determined to find the Easter egg that will give them control of OASIS. Spielberg directed from an adapted script by Zak Penn and Cline. Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller and Simon Pegg also star.


Tyler Perry and Lionsgate's latest film together, the marital psychological thriller Acrimony, placed No. 2 with a solid $17.1 million from 2,006 theaters.


Taraji P. Henson stars in the film as a wife determined to exact revenge on her cheating husband. Lyriq Bent, Jazmyn Simon and Crystle Stewart co-star.


Nearly three-quarters of ticket buyers were female.


Acrimony, Ready Player One and Easter weekend's third new movie, God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, all earned A- CinemaScores.


The grade, however, didn't appear to help God's Not Dead 3, which came in a distant No. 12 with roughly $2.6 million from 1,693 theaters. (It was even beat by Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs, which is only playing in 165 locations.) The first God's Not Dead debuted to $9.2 million, while the sequel started off with $7.6 million.


Instead, faith-based moviegoers continued to embrace I Can Only Imagine, which placed No. 4 in its third weekend with $10.8 million from 2,648 theaters for a domestic total of $55.6 million — surpassing Manchester by the Sea ($47.7 million) to become the top-grossing title in Roadside's history, not adjusting for inflation. Roadside added 395 theaters to the film's run over Easter weekend.


Sony's faith-based title Paul, Apostle of Christ has also faltered in the face of I Can Only Imagine. Apostle of Christ came in No. 10 in its second outing with an estimated $3.5 million for a domestic cume of $11.5 million.


Among other holdovers, Disney and Marvel's Black Panther remained a powerful force in its seventh weekend, coming in No. 3 with an $11.2 million for a domestic of $650.7 million and $1.273 worldwide. It has passed up fellow Disney title Beauty and the Beast ($1.264) at the worldwide box office, and domestically, is on the verge of eclipsing Jurassic World ($652 million) to rank as No. 4 on the all-time list, not adjusted for inflation.


Pacific Rim Uprising wasn't so lucky. The event film tumbled 67 percent in its sophomore weekend to $9.2 million for a 10-day North American cume of $45.7 million. The sequel, from Legendary and Universal, is a far bigger play internationally, where it earned another $31.4 million for a foreign tally of $186.2 million, including $89.6 million from China, and $231.9 million worldwide.


Uprising wasn't Universal's only duty offshore. The studio opened comedy Blockers in five markets a week before the movie's domestic bow. Blockers earned $5 million offshore, led by the U.K. ($1.9 million).


At the specialty box office, Isle of Dogs earned $2.8 million for a theater average of $17,030, the best average of the weekend. The Fox Searchlight movie added more than 144 runs in its second weekend.


Aaron Katz's Gemini opened in four theaters, earning $34,184 for a theater average of $8,546. Zoe Kravitz stars in the mystery, which had its world premiere at SXSW.


April 1, 8:15 a.m. Updated with foreign grosses for Ready Player One.


Weekend Box Office 3/25/18

	Weekend	Cume	Theaters	Week
1. Ready Player One	$41.2M	$53.2M	4,234	1
2. Tyler Perry's Acrimony	$17.1M	$17.1M	2,006	1
3. Black Panther	$11.3M	$650.7M	2,988	7
4. I Can Only Imagine	$10.8M	$55.6M	2,648	3
5. Pacific Rim Uprising	$9.2M	$45.7M	3,708	2
6. Sherlock Gnomes	$7M	$22.8M	3,662	2
7. Love, Simon	$4.8M	$32.1M	2,024	3
8. Tomb Raider	$4.7M	$50.5M	2,788	3
9. A Wrinkle in Time	$4.7M	$83.3M	2,367	4
10. Paul, Apostle of Christ	$3.5M	$11.5M	1,473	2

3-Day Weekend Box Office Estimates - Source: comScore