When “Black Panther” made its record-smashing $201 million start last month, it was expected to easily keep the No. 1 spot at the box office until Disney released its next film, Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” But as Madeleine L’Engle’s famous science fantasy adaptation gets ready to enter theaters on 3,980 screens this weekend, that expectation may have been premature.
When tracking for “A Wrinkle in Time” first came out three weeks ago, opening weekend estimates were set at approximately $35 million against a production budget of at least $103 million, according to California Film Commission reports. Despite Disney’s usually intense marketing campaign which included TV and digital spots throughout NBC’s Winter Olympics coverage, tracking has remained stuck in the mid-30 range.