Jordan Peele’s newest horror film, Us, could be read as a parable about society’s haves and have-nots. But as for the movie itself … well, it’s unquestionably one of the haves.
Appropriately enough, Us killed it at the box office this weekend, with the dollars it earned seemingly multiplying like rabbits. Peele’s smart, bloody slasher sliced its way to an estimated $70.3 million in North America. That’s a record, by the way: In an era dominated by sequels and franchise flicks, Us had the most lucrative opening weekend of a live-action original movie since 2009’s Avatar (which, incidentally, became the highest-grossing film in history). The fact that Us also scored the third highest-grossing weekend ever for an R-rated horror movie—and, naturally, the highest opening weekend ever for an original R-rated film—seems almost anticlimactic record-keeping.
The success of Us pushed Captain Marvel down to No. 2. Marvel’s latest superhero movie earned $35 million in its third weekend of work, pushing its domestic tally to $321.5 million. That’s good enough for 10th place in Marvel’s teeming cinematic universe, just ahead of the original Iron Man ($318.4 million) and just behind Guardians of the Galaxy ($333.2 million). Add in the $588.8 million it has earned overseas, and Captain Marvel is nearing the $1 billion mark. It stands at $910.3 million right now, and Carol Danvers has plenty of power left in those plasma fists of hers.
Two sophomore entrants fill slots No. 3 and 4. The animated flick Wonder Park finished just ahead of the romantic drama Five Feet Apart, with Wonder earning $9 million to Five Feet’s $8.8 million. Meanwhile, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World continues to cling to a spot inside the box office’s top five. It flapped its way to another $6.5 million, bringing its total domestic haul to nearly $145.8 million.
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