Director Jordan Peele’s Us was a hit for its opening weekend, dethroning Captain Marvel and pulling in an impressive $70.3 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Peele’s followup to 2017’s Get Out scared up earnings four times larger than his previous standout film. Get Out, for instance, earned just under two million for the first day of its release in 2017 but Us just pulled in 7.4 million for that same opening day, according to Box Office Mojo.
Opening in 1,000 more theaters than Get Out, Peele’s newest film will likely pull in nearly $70 million for its opening weekend, nearly $20 million over expectations. Along with its strong critical acclaim, Us will mark the newest high-water mark for Peele’s budding film career.
With Us barreling into theaters, the shock flick pushed Marvel’s Captain Marvel into second place. But with a drop off of 45 percent in audience participation, the Brie Larson epic looks like it will end up far back in the superhero pack and may settle in around the 22nd highest grossing superhero films and only the tenth best box office for Marvel. Thus far, Captain Marvel has brought in about $323 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s animated Wonder Park came in third place with an additional $9.5 million to give the film a $30 million worldwide box office in its second week in theaters.
Filling out the top five, CBS Films’ romantic drama Five Feet Apart fell to fourth place bringing its two-week earnings to $25 million worldwide. Still, the Cole Sprouse-starring young adult drama beat expectations on its opening.
Finally, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World hung in at the fifth spot, once again sticking in the top five since its February 22 opening. The film has earned nearly $621.5 million worldwide since its opening weekend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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