USA TODAY — LOS ANGELES – After a wobbly start, Dwayne Johnson muscled his way to a No. 1 opening at the box office for Rampage — but just barely. Close on its heels was the word-of-mouth sensation A Quiet Place in its second week in theaters, and not too far behind that was the Blumhouse horror flick Truth or Dare.
Rampage earned an estimated $34.5 million for the weekend in North American theaters, and dominated internationally, too, with $114.1 million from 61 territories.
Based on the classic arcade game, Rampage carried a sizable budget of at least $115 million. Although Rampage pulled in mixed reviews (just 50% of critics liked it at Rotten Tomatoes), audiences were more enthusiastic, giving it an A-minus on CinemaScore.
"I wasn't sure how I was going to feel on Friday. But when I look at our global number of $148.6 million, there's a lot to be proud of for Dwayne Johnson," says Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution. "Talk about a real closer; he knows how to bring it home."
That Friday, of course, was Friday the 13th, and audiences had a choice of two nail-biters to spend their entertainment dollars on: the buzzy thriller A Quiet Place, which dominated the charts last weekend, and Truth or Dare, the horror movie from the production house behind Get Out and Split.
After its stunning debut, John Krasinski's modestly budgeted A Quiet Place fell only 35% in its second weekend, adding $32.6 million to its total, which is now just shy of $100 million.
Truth or Dare also found a sizable audience that was mostly young (60% under the age of 25) and female (60%). The PG-13 rated pic stars Pretty Little Liars alum Lucy Hale.
With a budget of just $3.5 million, the film took in a terrific $19.1 million for the weekend — just the latest in a string of successes for Blumhouse.
"They just consistently overdeliver," says Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution, which partnered with Blumhouse to place the film in theaters. "Everyone at Universal is just thrilled to be in business with these guys."
Sliding into fourth place was Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One, with $11.2 million in its third weekend, and in fifth was the R-rated prom comedy Blockers, starring John Cena, with $10.3 million.
While the success of a horror movie isn't a surprise for the industry, big-budget films like Rampage continue to face a complex marketplace. For box-office analysts like comScore's Paul Dergarabedian, Rampage's performance fits into the post-Black Panther narrative for most would-be blockbusters.
"Rampage joins a long list of popcorn movies that have opened in the wake of Black Panther to rely heavily on their international box-office revenues," says Dergarabedian, citing A Wrinkle in Time, Tomb Raider, Pacific Rim: Uprising and Ready Player One.
Black Panther added $5.3 million in its ninth weekend in theaters, bringing its domestic total to $673.8 million.
The same weekend last year saw the massive $98.8 million opening for The Fate of the Furious, and comScore reports that the year-to-date box office is down slightly more than 2%. But the tide could be turning soon.
"We're just in this lull waiting for Avengers: Infinity War that is going to blow the doors off of the box office in a little less than two weeks," Dergarabedian says.
Final numbers are expected Monday.
