Weekend Box Office:Sinners Makes a Strong Start, but Minecraft Still Rules

Warner Bros. had a strong weekend at the box office, with two of their movies taking the top spots. The vampire thriller "Sinners" had a solid opening, earning $19. 2 million across Friday and preview screenings. This was a good start, but it wasn't enough to beat "A Minecraft Movie, " which has been a massive hit. "Sinners" played in 3, 308 theaters, which is fewer than the 4, 302 locations where "Minecraft" is showing. Despite this, "Sinners" is on track to meet Warner Bros. ' expectations of a $40 million opening weekend. "Sinners" also benefited from luxury ticket prices for Imax screenings, including 70mm showtimes. The marketing campaign for the film highlighted the use of Imax cameras during production, a technique often associated with director Christopher Nolan. This could help "Sinners" maintain its audience, similar to how "Oppenheimer" did well in Imax theaters. The thriller will be in Imax auditoriums for two weeks before being replaced by Disney's "Thunderbolts. " "Sinners" is one of the bigger bets of the year, with a production budget of $90 million. This is a significant amount for an original, R-rated film. Warner Bros. agreed to give director Ryan Coogler the film rights back after 25 years, a rare deal that was last seen with Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. " Despite the high cost, "Sinners" has received positive reviews and strong audience sentiment, which are good signs for its future success. The film is set in the 1930s blues scene of the Mississippi Delta and stars Michael B. Jordan as twin brothers who must fight off a group of vampires. The cast also includes Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, and Delroy Lindo. The movie has scored an "A" grade from Cinema Score, which is impressive for a horror film. This bodes well for "Sinners" as it continues its run in theaters. "Minecraft" continues to be a box office powerhouse, earning another $16 million on Friday. This is a fantastic hold, with the film falling just 22% from its daily total last week. Fifteen days into its release, "Minecraft" has entered the top-100 all-time list of domestic grossers and could reach $350 million by Sunday. It's unclear how high the film can climb, but it's definitely a success story for Warner Bros. In third place, Angel Studios' "The King of Kings" earned $6. 6 million on Friday. The biblical animated adaptation is doing well, especially considering it's competing with "Minecraft" for family audiences. The film has hit the right notes with its target audience and perfect release timing with the Easter holiday. This has made it Angel Studios' second-biggest hit of all time, behind only "Sound of Freedom. "