LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) - "The Lego Batman Movie" is dominating the North American box office with an estimated US$44 million this President's Day weekend - nearly matching the combined haul of "Fifty Shades Darker" and "The Great Wall."
Universal's second weekend of "Fifty Shades" is heading for US$24 million at 3,714 sites and its action-fantasy "The Great Wall" was projected to wind up with US$21 million at 3,325 locations for the Friday-Monday period. Lionsgate's second weekend of "John Wick: Chapter 2" is finishing in a solid fourth place with US$19.5 million at 3,113 venues as holdovers propped up the holiday weekend business.
New Line's opening of high school comedy "Fist Fight" showed only a modest punch in fifth with around US$14 million at 3,185 locations. And Fox's horror-thriller "A Cure for Wellness" was scaring up a modest US$4.9 million at 2,704 screens as it was projected to finish 11th.
"Lego Batman," Warner Bros.' spinoff of 2014's "The Lego Movie," is playing at 4,088 sites and will wind up the weekend with more than US$108 million in its first 11 days. It opened with US$53 million on the Feb. 10-12 weekend, so it's declined by only 35 percent in the second Friday-Sunday period.
Will Arnett returns as the voice of Batman, along with Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes. "Lego Batman" scored strong critical support with a 91 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Fifty Shades Darker" declined about 55 percent from its opening weekend and should finish the weekend with an 11-day total of US$93 million.
Universal's "The Great Wall" is performing above recent forecasts, which had pegged the film to finish in the US$17 million range. Still, the number isn't particularly impressive, given the US$150 million budget for the Legendary production - the most expensive movie ever shot in China.
Matt Damon stars as a European mercenary joining the fight against monsters during China's Song Dynasty.