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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 6 March 2017
‘Logan’ slices box office with $85.3M, ‘Moonlight’ gets bump

JAKE COYLE pearing on 1,564 screens. “The Hurt Locker” ($17 mil-
AP Film Writer It turned in its biggest lion) earned less at the do-
NEW YORK (AP) — The weekend, too, with an es- mestic box office.
R-rated “X-Men” spinoff timated $2.5 million. Though it memorably did
“Logan” slashed into the That accounts for roughly not win best picture, Lions-
weekend box office, open- 10 percent of the movie’s gate’s “La La Land” — win-
ing with a massive $85.3 total domestic haul of ner of six Academy Awards
million in North American $25.3 million. — is closing in on $400 mil-
theaters, according to “Moonlight,” made for just lion globally after adding
studio estimates Sunday, $1.5 million, is also out on another $11 million interna-
while best-picture winner DVD and on-demand. In- tionally and $3 million do-
“Moonlight” got a signifi- die distributor A24 said it mestically.
cant, if far from superhero- will be its highest-grossing Lionsgate’s “The Shack”
sized, Oscar bump. release in its five-year ex- also opened in North
The debut of 20th Cen- istence. “Moonlight” also American theaters over
tury Fox’s “Logan,” starring ranks fourth on iTunes. the weekend and came in
Hugh Jackman as Wolver- “That’s a true Oscar halo third with $16.1 million.
ine, ranks among the big- effect in full view,” said Paul The Christian tale, star-
gest March openings ever Dergarabedian, senior me- This image released by Twentieth Century Fox shows Hugh Jack- ring Sam Worthington and
and top R-rated debuts. dia analyst for comScore. man from the film, “Logan.” Octavia Spencer, was
Like last year’s R-rated “Usually the biggest Associated Press slammed by critics, but it
“Deadpool” (also a Fox bounce comes from the expanded into more the- ertheless one of the least attracted one of the larg-
release), the better-than- nominations. aters, and it really worked widely seen best-picture est faith-based audiences
expected opening for “Lo- But this film hadn’t made a for them.” winners. in recent years.q
gan” — a darkly violent, ton of money. A24 smartly Barry Jenkins’ drama is nev- Only Kathryn Bigelow’s
grittily dramatic movie ap-
plauded by critics — fur-
ther proves moviegoers’
hunger for less convention-
al comic book films.
“’Deadpool,’ was to com-
edy what ‘Logan’ is to dra-
ma.
The only common theme
is that they’re quote-un-
quote ‘comic-book mov-
ies’ and they’re rated R,”
said Fox distribution chief
Chris Aronson,
who credited director and
co-writer James Mangold
and Jackman for execut-
ing their personal vision for
the film.
Jackman has said it will be
his final performance as
Wolverine, whose claws he
has worn for 17 years.
“Logan,” made for about
$100 million, also sold
$152.5 million in tickets
overseas.
“On a global scale, we’ve
exceeded all pre-release
expectations,” Aronson
said.
Last week’s No. 1 film, Jor-
dan Peele’s horror sensa-
tion “Get Out” slid just 22
percent — a small drop for
any movie but particularly
in the horror genre.
The acclaimed Universal
Pictures release, made for
$5 million by Blumhouse
Productions, dropped
to second place but still
grossed $26.1 million. Its 10-
day total is $75 million.
The Oscar best-picture
winner “Moonlight” had
its widest release yet, ap-