M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” won its second consecutive weekend at the box office, earning an estimated $26.3 million for a total of $78 million since its release.
Amblin Entertainment and Walden Media’s “A Dog’s Purpose,” being released by Universal Pictures, finished in second with an estimated $18.4 million. The Lasse Hallstrom-directed film had been tainted by a leaked TMZ video in which it looked like a German Shepherd was being forced into a pool of rough water. The dog went under water in a later portion of the video, which sparked a boycott by PETA, but the studio and Amblin have refuted claims that the dog was abused or injured during the making of the film.
Tracking for “A Dog’s Purpose” had been all over the map going into the weekend, with analysts putting the film in an opening range of $13 million to $21 million, with the studio looking at a gross in the high-teens to $20 million.
Starring Britt Robertson, Dennis Quaid and Josh Gad, the film was produced for an amount in the low-$20 million range and has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 33 percent, but a CinemaScore of A.
Fox and Chernin Entertainment’s “Hidden Figures” will take third place this weekend with an estimated $14 million, bringing its cumulative total up $104 million. The film starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae has been a critical and commercial success — the Oscar nominee holds a “Fresh” score of 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Screen Gems’ “Resident Evil: The Final Chapter” came in fourth, earning an estimated $13.9 million from 3,059 locations, in line with the studio’s expectations. The studio is anticipating $78 million internationally by Monday. The film’s budget was an estimated $40 million.
Paul W.S. Anderson wrote, directed and produced the latest film in the franchise, which again stars Milla Jovovich as the only survivor in humanity’s fight against the dead. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie holds a score of 41 percent. Its CinemaScore is B.
Lionsgate’s “La La Land” rounded out the top five at the box office this weekend after the film’s Oscar nominations on Tuesday. The musical starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling earned an estimated $12 million, which brings its domestic cumulative to $106.5 million. “La La Land” received 14 Oscar nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Director.
This weekend’s other newcomer, The Weinstein Company’s “Gold,” earned an estimated $3.5 million its opening weekend. Heading into the weekend, the studio anticipated an opening in the $4 million to $5 million range.
The film, directed by Stephen Gaghan, has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 38 percent while its CinemaScore is B-.
Following the Oscar nominations, many studios have rereleased the Best Picture contenders. “Arrival,” “Fences” and “Moonlight” were expected to get moderate boosts from their rerelease, while “Manchester by the Sea” expanded into more theaters. TheWrap had reported that “La La Land” and “Lion” were to get the biggest box office boost from their nominations — the latter earned $2.3 million this weekend, up from last weekend’s gross of $1.7 million, although TWC had not yet expanded the film’s theater count.