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Box office: Jordan Peele's Us cuts out $70 million for top spot, cloning a major horror record
Us, Jordan Peele's second directorial effort after Get Out, proves that the comedian-turned-filmmaker is most certainly not a one trick horror pony. The film will snip out $70 million domestically from 3,741 theaters with its fancy pair of golden scissors for Universal Pictures and take the top spot at this weekend's box office.
Moreover, the movie has shattered the biggest-ever debut for an original horror feature not based on an existing franchise or source material. The highest-ever opening for a horror movie goes to It: Chapter One ($123.4 million) followed by David Gordon Green's Halloween sequel/soft reboot ($76.2 million). Us also managed the second-best opening of 2019 after Captain Marvel, but more on her below.
To put things into even more context, the film has done double the business of Get Out. Despite that movie's major cultural resonance and awards season victories, it only ever managed to make $179 million in the States and $79.3 million overseas. Us could easily crush that global tally of $255.4 million and then some by the time it's finished with its theatrical run.
Also written by Peele, Us centers on a family terrorized by their own evil doppelgängers on what is supposed to be a peaceful summer vacation in Santa Cruz, California. Black Panther alums, Lupita Nyong'o and Winston Duke, play the mother and father of the family, while Shahadi Wright and Evan Alex play their daughter and son respectively.
Packed with unsettling imagery, recurring motifs, a memorable score, and one humdinger of an ending, Us co-stars Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale), Tim Heidecker (Jeff & Some Aliens), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Aquaman), and Anna Diop (Titans).
For the first time since it opened, Captain Marvel has been knocked down to the No. 2 spot, expected to make another $34 million in North America during its third weekend. The change in supremacy for the Marvel Studios project isn't particularly devastating as the Brie Larson-led film has already soared past $320 million domestically and more than $900 million worldwide. So far, Carol Danvers' introduction into the MCU has outgrossed Thor: Ragnarok ($854M), Venom ($855M), Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 ($864M), Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice ($874M), Spider-Man: Homecoming ($880M), and Spider-Man 3 ($891M).
Paramount's Wonder Park is expected to land in the third spot, adding another $9 million to its domestic box office numbers for an at-home total of $29 million. Coming in No. 5 (after Five Feet Apart) is DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World with another $6.5 million for a domestic tally of $145 million.
(via Variety, Deadline & Box Office Mojo)
