Theater Averages: Another Gold for Black Panther

February 21, 2018

Black Panther

Black Panther not only earned the best theater average of the weekend, it earned the best theater average of the year so far with an average of $50,250. This tops the previous record of $47,167 set by The Post on the first weekend of the year. The previous best average for a film that opened in 2018 was $13,783, set by Padmaavat. The only other film in the $10,000 club this past weekend was The Party, which earned an average of $12,465 in three theaters.

The next best new limited release was Detective Chinatown 2. This is a monster hit in its native China and it earned an average of $6,122 in 115 theaters here. The Boy Downstairs was close behind with $5,995 in one theater. Another Chinese film, Monster Hunt 2, was next with an average of $4,954 in 69 theaters. We move to South Korea next. Detective K: Secret of the Living Dead earned an average of $3,365 in nine theaters. The third Chinese film on the chart was The Monkey King 3: Kingdom of Women with $2,811 in 34 theaters. With so much direct competition, it is no wonder the film struggled. Speaking of struggling, Mind Game only managed an average of $801 in seven theaters. Animated films almost never do well in limited release and this film was too weird, even for the art house circuit.

This past week also saw milestones reached for a few Per Theater Chart alumni:

  • Pad Man reached $1 million early in the weekend. Indian films rarely have long legs, so getting to $2 million will be difficult.
  • 2018 Oscar Shorts hit $1 million before the weekend and it was nearly at $2 million by the end of the weekend.
  • La Boda Valentina just made it to $2 million over the weekend, but its theater average is low enough that it likely won’t make it to $3 million.
  • As expected, The Shape of Water made it all the way to $50 million since last week. It has earned $20 million since the Oscars nominations were announced and if it is the big winner on Oscar night, it could earn another $20 million.
  • The Post hit $75 million early in the weekend and should have no trouble getting to $80 million before it is done. It is now one of the 40 biggest hits released in 2017.
Weekend Box Office Results

Filed under: Theater Averages, Black Panther, The Boy Downstairs, The Post, The Shape of Water, Zhuo yao ji 2, The Party, Padmavati, La Boda de Valentina, Mind Game, Padman, Xi You Ji Nu Er Guo, 2018 Oscar Shorts, Joseon Myungtamjung: Heubhyeolgwimaui Bimil, Tang Ren Jie Tan An 2