Universal/Monkeypaw’s “Us” has set a new opening weekend record for original horror films, earning a $70.2 million launch from 3,741 screens and blowing past the record of $50.2 million set by “A Quiet Place” last year.
“Us” has also more than doubled the opening weekend earned by Jordan Peele’s previous film, “Get Out,” which opened to $33.3 million in February 2017. When ranked among all horror films, including franchise titles and remakes, “Us” sits third, just behind the $123 million opening for 2017’s “It” remake and the $76 million opening for last year’s “Halloween.”
The critical acclaim “Us” received at its SXSW premiere two weeks ago has continued, earning a 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and adding $16.7 million from 47 overseas markets to earn an $86.9 million worldwide launch against a $20 million budget.
According to CinemaScore audience data, African-American moviegoers overindexed and comprised of 30 percent of the entire audience. By comparison, Caucasians sat at 36 percent, with Hispanic/Latinos at 21 percent and Asians at 7 percent. While “Get Out” was a hit with audiences with an A- on CinemaScore, “Us” was more consistent with most horror titles with a B.
Taking second is “Captain Marvel,” which dropped 50 percent for a $35 million total in its third weekend. It also grossed $52 million overseas for an $87 million global weekend total. That pushes the latest Marvel film past the domestic total of “Thor: Ragnarok” with $320 million, and past the global total of “Wonder Woman,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “Batman v Superman” with $910 million after 19 days in theaters around the world.
Taking third is Paramount’s “Wonder Park” with $8.8 million, a 44 percent drop that brings its 10-day total to $29.2 million and $39.7 million worldwide, with $5 million grossed this weekend from 24 markets overseas.
CBS Films/Lionsgate’s “Five Feet Apart” sits just behind it with $8.5 million for a 35 percent drop and a $26.2 million 10-day domestic total and a $32.8 million total against a $7 million budget. Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” completes the top five with $6.5 million for a domestic total of $145 million and a global total of $488 million after five weekends.