‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ conquers ‘Black Panther’

Friday, 30 March 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Los Angeles (Variety.com): After weeks of speculating which film could slow ‘Black Panther’s’ impressive roll, ‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ took the top spot at the domestic box office.

Universal and Legendary’s ‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ landed a respectable $28 million opening weekend at 3,708 locations. The monster battle movie has garnered mixed critical response, with a current 46 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Though it opened with a softer debut than Guillermo del Toro’s predecessor ‘Pacific Rim,’ which saw $37 million in July 2013, the sequel was enough to dethrone ‘Black Panther’ in the superhero tentpole’s sixth weekend.

Steven S. DeKnight co-wrote and directed ‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ with a reported $150 million budget. The original, which starred Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Charlie Hunnam, and Robert Kazinsky, went on to gross $411 million at the worldwide box office, thanks to a strong international showing, especially in China, where it made $112 million compared to the U.S.’ $101.8 million.

The sequel is set 10 years after the Battle of the Breach with a new generation of Jaeger pilots ready to combat the evolving Kaiju monsters and prevent humanity’s extinction. John Boyega plays Jake Pentecost, the son of Elba’s character Stacker Pentecost, who sacrificed his life in the first film. Scott Eastwood, Jing Tian, Cailee Spaeny, Kikuchi, Burn Gorman, Adria Arjona, and Day also star.

Still, in its sixth weekend ‘Black Panther’ continues to be a powerhouse, nabbing the No. 2 spot with $17 million at 3,370 sites. That number lands ‘Black Panther’ one of the seven highest sixth weekends in history. To date, the Marvel film has taken in $631 million, making it the fifth-highest all-time domestic grosses ahead of ‘The Avengers.’

“It had to happen at some point, and Universal’s ‘Pacific Rim Uprising’ now holds the distinction of being the film that took over ‘Black Panther’s’ long-standing position as king of the weekend box office mountain,” Paul Dergarabedian, a box office analyst at comScore, said.

The latest Disney superhero film has been an absolute marvel, holding onto the top spot for a whopping five weeks, while sprinting its way up the all-time charts and now stands as the fifth highest grossing film of all-time in North America and ranks twelfth globally after just 38 days in theatres.