It may have been Oscars weekend, but Jordan Peele’s thriller Get Out was the big winner at the box office.
The directorial debut from the Key & Peele co-creator rode a wave of positive reviews from professional critics and general audiences to an impressive $30.5 million debut in theaters, easily surpassing its $4.5 million production budget and ending the dominant, two-week reign of The Lego Batman Movie.
Peele’s film was the only new release to crack the weekend’s top 10 movies and is expected to have a strong run in theaters thanks to the positive word-of-mouth buzz, despite going up against some heavy hitters in the coming weeks.
| # | Title | Weekend | U.S. Total | Worldwide Total |
| 1. | Get Out | $30.5M | $30.5M | $30.5M |
| 2. | The Lego Batman Movie | $19M | $133M | $226M |
| 3. | John Wick: Chapter Two | $9M | $74.4M | $125.5M |
| 4. | The Great Wall | $8.7M | $34.4M | $129M |
| 5. | Fifty Shades Darker | $7.7M | $103.6M | $328.3M |
| 6. | Fist Fight | $6.3M | $23.2M | $24.7M |
| 7. | Hidden Figures | $5.8M | $152.8M | $182.8M |
| 8. | La La Land | $4.6M | $140.8M | $368.9M |
| 9. | Split | $4.1M | $130.8M | $221.2M |
| 10. | Lion | $3.8M | $42.8M | $88.7M |
Although it didn’t take home any Academy Awards, Hidden Figures remained the highest-grossing “Best Picture” nominee in U.S. theaters, adding another $5.8 million to stay ahead of modern musical La La Land, which turned a record-tying 14 Oscar nominations into six wins during the weekend’s ceremony. Globally, La La Land has been the highest-grossing nominee, however, with $368.9 million overall so far.
Despite its strong debut, The Lego Batman Movie appears destined to fall below the mark set by its predecessor, 2014’s The Lego Movie, in both U.S. theaters and worldwide. Still, the film’s overwhelmingly positive reviews indicate that its current $133 million domestic ticket sales and $226 million worldwide are just the start of a long run.
This upcoming weekend’s biggest release is the ‘R’-rated Logan, which is expected to be Hugh Jackman’s final adventure as Marvel Comics mutant Wolverine and is already generating praise from early screenings. The young-adult, sci-fi thriller Before I Fall also hits theaters, as well as the faith-based drama The Shack. The top movie will almost certainly be Logan, but second place is likely up for grabs among either of the two other new releases or this week’s winner, Get Out.
