Kong: Skull Island was crowned box office champ this weekend with an estimated $61 million dollars over the March 10th-12th frame.
The total is a strong one for March, and would have been higher if not for the strong competition from last week’s winner Logan (which is currently over $152 million dollars after two weeks of release) and the critically acclaimed Get Out. Logan made $37,850,00 in second place and Get Out came in third with a total of $21,072,600 in its third week of release. Get Out also added 205 screens this weekend, quite a feat when you consider how many new releases are scheduled for March this year (and the success of the film probably accounts for the Belko Experiment’s recent screen count drop a week away from its debut to only 1,200 screens.) At this rate, Get Out is almost certain to unseat Split as the number one horror hit of the year so far, with a current gross of $111 million and counting.
Kong: Skull Island did not perform as well as 2014’s Godzilla which opened with $93,188,384 in sales. Although Godzilla’s decline was rapid, Kong has his work cut out for him in coming weeks as the film will continue to contend with Logan, Get Out, and the upcoming action/sci-fi films Power Rangers and Ghost in the Shell. Regardless of how Kong: Skull Island performs, it is full steam ahead for the upcoming “battle of the titans” that Godzilla vs. King Kong will surely deliver in 2020.
