By Jessica Gelt | Los Angeles Times
Paramount’s sci-fi thriller Arrival landed in the No. 3 spot on the weekend box-office chart and beat expectations, while Marvel Studio’s Doctor Strange held on to the top spot for the second weekend in a row.
20th Century Fox’s animated Trolls stayed put at No. 2.
Arrival brought in an estimated $9.4 million on Friday, which far exceeded prerelease estimates that the film, which stars Amy Adams, would earn only around $16 million for the weekend. The performance is a welcome relief for Paramount, which has been plagued with several lackluster showings, including Star Trek Beyond and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Doctor Strange, which is distributed by Disney, grossed nearly $15 million on Friday for a domestic total of nearly $125 million. The film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role of the powerful sorcerer, has benefited from positive word of mouth, including an “A” CinemaScore from audiences and a 90-percent fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
Kids and their parents continued to flock to DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls, which stars Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake as creatures of opposite nature united in a quest to save their best pals. The film grossed $12.2 million on Friday, giving it a domestic total just shy of $71.2 million.
Arrival is now projected to earn between $21 million and $24 million during its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, stars Adams as a US military linguist picked to communicate with aliens. The thoughtful sci-fi drama has been racking up favorable reviews, including a 94-percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B” CinemaScore.
Two other new releases, Universal’s Almost Christmas and EuropaCorp’s Shut In, finished at No. 4 and No. 7, respectively, with the former grossing $5.9 million on Friday and the latter $1.4 million.
It appears the feel-good holiday film starring Danny Glover was more attractive to audiences than a dark thriller on the weekend after a tough presidential election.