Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 13 February 2017
‘Lego Batman’ dominates ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ at box office

LINDSEY BAHR for September.
AP Film Writer Audiences were slightly
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mov- less curious to catch up
iegoers could choose vio- with the exploits of Chris-
lence, sex or family-friendly tian Grey and Ana Steele
fare this weekend with the second time around.
three diverse new offerings The sequel didn’t compare
that all drew healthy num- to “Fifty Shades of Grey’s”
bers at the box office. $85.2 million debut in 2015.
“The Lego Batman Movie” Nick Carpou, Universal
took the top spot with $55.6 Pictures’ president of do-
million, dominating “Fifty mestic theatrical distribu-
Shades Darker,” which at- tion, said the first movie de-
tracted $46.8 million, ac- buted in a “perfect storm.”
cording to studio estimates The film adaptation of
Sunday. the best-selling book had This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Batman, voiced by Will Arnett, in a scene
The spinoff of 2014’s “Lego gained immense interest from “The LEGO Batman Movie.”
Movie” benefited from and Valentine’s Day fell on (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
good reviews and a lack a Saturday in 2015, mak-
of competition in the family ing the movie a date-night in theaters this weekend, “People really love its un- den Figures” with $8 million,
space, which is expected destination. This year, the “John Wick: Chapter 2” apologetic violence,” said boosting its total to $131.5
to help it maintain its pace holiday lands on a Tues- took third place. With $30 Paul Dergarabedian, a se- million.
going into the holiday day. million, it more than dou- nior media analyst for box It was a strong weekend
weekend, when kids are “This is a great start,” Car- bled the debut of the origi- office tracker comScore. overall for theaters, attrib-
out of school. pou said, noting that the nal. The Keanu Reeves hit Rounding out the top five utable to the different op-
A whopping 48 percent of CinemaScore from audi- man flick became a sleep- were holdovers “Split,” the tions available, Dergarabe-
opening weekend audi- ences is stronger for the se- er hit on the small screen, M. Night Shyamalan psy- dian said.
ences was under 25. It also quel. “The story will be told and that goodwill helped chological thriller that add- “The tried and true brands
bodes well for Warner Bros.’ through the first part of this bolster interest in the follow- ed $9.3 million, for a total of are what people re-
next Lego spinoff, “The week.” up, which is also getting $112.3 million in earnings, ally gravitated to this
Lego Ninjago Movie,” set The other R-rated sequel strong reviews. and Oscar contender “Hid- weekend.q