Maze Runner: The Death Cure Pulls In $23.5 Million At Weekend Box Office
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has officially been knocked out of its top box office spot. New release Maze Runner: Welcome to the Jungle beat out the Dwayne Johnson-starring action comedy with a $23.5 million debut weekend.
The Death Cure puts Dylan O'Brien's Thomas and his band of escaped Gladers on their most dangerous mission yet, featuring them attempting to break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze they have ever faced. If they manage to make it through the maze, the Gladers could finally get the answers they have been seeking for years.
The trilogy-capping film was delayed almost a year from its planned release after O'Brien suffered an injury on set while performing a stunt. The movie opened slightly above initial $21 million projections, but still fell below the first film's $32.5 million and the second's $30.3 million. The Death Cure, which also stars Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kaya Scodelario, Patricia Clarkson, and Walton Goggins, has received mixed to negative reviews from critics and currently sits at a 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle continued to be an impressive box office force, falling only 15.9 percent from last week's first place finish for an additional $16.4 million. The movie, which also stars Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Nick Jonas, currently sits at $338 million domestic and $822 million worldwide, putting it among the top 100 worldwide grossing films of all time. (It currently sits at 77th, according to Box Office Mojo.)
Third place for the weekend went to Christian Bale's Hostiles, which expanded to 2,816 theaters. Despite being snubbed at the Oscars, the movie was able to build on its positive critical reviews to pull in $10.2 million, well above initial $5 million expectations. Hostiles, which also stars Rosamund Pike, stars Bale as an Army captain tasked with transporting an old Native American enemy (Wes Studi) back to his tribal home.
Also interesting in this weekend's results was a resurgence for Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water. The movie, which received 13 Oscar nominations earlier this week, including a nod for Best Picture, re-expanded into 1,854 theaters and brought in an additional $5.7 million, good for eighth place. The movie currently sits at $37.6 million domestic.
Also receiving an Oscar bump over the weekend was Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which added an additional 503 theaters and brought in $3.6 million, and I, Tonya, which added an additional 161 theaters and brought in $2.9 million. Lady Bird, another Best Picture nom, added 497 more theaters and brought in $1.9 million.
You can view this weekend's full box office results (via Box Office Mojo) below.
Top 10 Weekend Box Office Gross
1. Maze Runner: The Death Cure: $23,500,000 (– percent), $23,500,000 Total Domestic Gross
2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: $16,400,000 (-15.9 percent), $338,057,203 Total Domestic Gross
3. Hostiles: $10,205,000 (+1,658.7 percent), $12,052,795 Total Domestic Gross
4. The Greatest Showman: $9,500,000 (-10.8 percent), $126,475,232 Total Domestic Gross
5. The Post: $8,850,000 (-24.5 percent), $58,535,923 Total Domestic Gross
6. 12 Strong: $8,635,000 (-45.4 percent), $29,759,610 Total Domestic Gross
7. Den of Thieves: $8,360,000 (-45 percent), $28,502,445 Total Domestic Gross
8. The Shape of Water: $5,700,000 (+160.7 percent), $37,678,745 Total Domestic Gross
9. Paddington 2: $5,570,000 (-30.5 percent), $32,020,416 Total Domestic Gross
10. Padmaavat: $4,272,998 (– percent), $4,780,239 Total Domestic Gross