Ready Player One Wins Top Box Office Spot

Ready Player One has made its way to the top of the box office. The latest Steven Spielberg action adventure debuted to $41.2 million over the three day weekend, bringing it to a $53.2 million total since its Wednesday night debut.

Ready Player One is based on the bestselling Ernest Cline novel of the same name. The movie is set in the year 2045, where people, depressed at the industrial wasteland the real world has become, escape to a virtual reality world called the OASIS. The OASIS was created by the eccentric billionaire James Halilday (Mark Rylance), who leaves a digital Easter egg to pass on the ownership of the world after his death.

Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) joins the contest to find the Easter egg, but he soon realizes he is in over his head when he has to face off against a nefarious corporation run by Ben Mendelsohn's Nolan Sorrento. Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, TJ Miller, Mckenna Grace, and Simon Pegg also star in the movie, which was directed by Spielberg based on a script from Cline and Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand).

Warner Bros. was initially projecting Ready Player One for somewhere around $45 million, but the movie was able to defy those early expectations thanks to positive reviews. (The movie currently sits at a 76 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.) The film has also been a hit with audiences, earning an A- CinemaScore. Internationally, it currently sits at $181.2 million. (via Box Office Mojo)

Second place went to Tyler Perry's Acrimony. The movie, Perry's 19th collaboration with Lionsgate, stars Taraji P. Henson as a woman who seeks revenge after her ex-husband (Lyriq Bent) comes across an unexpected windfall. Jazmyn Simon, Crystle Stewart, Ajiona Alexus, and Danielle Nicolet also star in the movie, which brought in a solid $17.1 million despite being trashed by critics. The film holds a 24 percent on Rotten Tomatoes but received an A- CinemaScore.

Marvel's Black Panther continued to do well in its seventh weekend in theaters, taking third place with an additional $11.2 million. The movie, which stars Chadwick Boseman as the titular superhero, currently sits at $1.27 billion worldwide, good for the eleventh highest grossing film of all-time worldwide. Domestically, it is the fifth highest grossing film of all time. (via Box Office Mojo)

You can view this weekend's full box office results (via Box Office Mojo) below. 

Top 10 Weekend Box Office Gross

1. Ready Player One: $41,210,000 (– percent), $53,215,000 Total Domestic Gross   
2. Tyler Perry's Acrimony: $17,100,000 (– percent), $17,100,00 Total Domestic Gross  
3. Black Panther: $11,263,000 (-34.1 percent), $650,699,634 Total Domestic Gross   
4. I Can Only Imagine: $10,750,685 (-21.0 percent), $55,576,022 Total Domestic Gross 
5. Pacific Rim Uprising: $9,205,000 (-67.3 percent), $45,670,820 Total Domestic Gross
6. Sherlock Gnomes: $7,000,000 (-34.0 percent), $22,820,646 Total Domestic Gross   
7. Love, Simon: $4,800,000 (-36.9 percent), $32,140,794 Total Domestic Gross   
8. Tomb Raider: $4,700,000 (-53.5 percent), $50,502,178 Total Domestic Gross   
9. A Wrinkle in Time: $4,694,000 (-42.9 percent), $83,250,414  Total Domestic Gross   
10. Paul, Apostle of Christ: $3,500,000 (-32.3 percent), $11,530,838 Total Domestic Gross