A Wrinkle in Time Can’t Slow Black Panther at Weekend Box Office.
Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time is losing some of its magic at the U.S. box office.
Though Ava DuVernay’s fantasy adventure topped Friday’s box office, its fellow Disney title Black Panther looks to maintain its box office reign this weekend.
A Wrinkle in Time opened on Friday with $10.2 million, including $1.3 million in Thursday night previews, which is just below earlier estimates of $13 million. With a mixed critical response, the $100 million-plus budgeted film is slated to take in around $33 million in its weekend debut, though that number could change depending on Saturday and Sunday matinee grosses.
Based on Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 classic fantasy novel, A Wrinkle in Time stars Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Zach Galifianakis, Chris Pine, Mindy Kaling and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. The film, which received a B Cinemascore from audiences, follows a young girl (Reid), her step-brother (Deric McCabe), and a friend (Levi Miller) as they embark on a journey that spans time and space in search of her missing father.
Now in its fourth weekend, Marvel’s Black Panther grossed $10 million on Friday and looks to make $40 million-plus this weekend. In just 26 days, Black Panther became the 33rd film to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office.
Black Panther Leads A Wrinkle in Time in All-Disney Box Office Face-Off
After crossing the $1 billion mark at the box office on Friday, “Black Panther” is on its way to becoming the first film since “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to take the No. 1 spot for the fourth straight weekend, as it is projected to beat fellow Disney release “A Wrinkle in Time.”
Though its $9.9 million gross on its fourth Friday was narrowly beaten by “A Wrinkle in Time”‘s $10.2 million opening day total, “Black Panther” is expected to win the weekend with $40-41 million, among the best ever totals for a fourth weekend. That also equates to a drop-off of just 38 percent from its $66.3 third weekend. The film has yet to suffer a drop-off of more than 44 percent, a staggering cut above most Marvel movies, which usually see a drop-off of 55-60 percent after their opening.
“A Wrinkle in Time,” meanwhile, is looking at a disappointing opening of $33 million from 3,980 screens against a reported $103 million budget. Though the film was considered the next big release for an industry trying to answer demands for more diverse casts and filmmakers, word of mouth has been tepid, as critics labeled it a “well-intentioned disappointment” and gave it a 42 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
On the bright side, director Ava DuVernay — who became the first black woman to direct a movie with a $100 million-plus budget with this picture — has succeeded with earning the approval of the demographic she aimed her film’s message towards: the youth. Opening night polls from CinemaScore showed that audiences under the age of 25 gave the film an A-, compared to a B- for audiences over the age of 25. Overall, the film has a CinemaScore grade of B.
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