Box office: ‘Madea Family Funeral’ overperforms; ‘Green Book’ surges after best picture win

Tyler Perry’s final Madea release was not enough to unseat Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy-ender at the box office this weekend.

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” maintained the top spot after two weekends at the box office, adding $30 million for a cumulative $97.7 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.

Lionsgate’s “A Madea Family Funeral” opened at No. 2 with $27 million, above analyst predictions of $18 million to $20 million. It earned a 24% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Madea,” however, on 1,800 fewer screens, had the higher per-screen average, $11,077, to “Dragon’s” $7,010.

The final movie in the long-running series, “A Madea Family Funeral” is Perry’s biggest opening since 2010’s “Why Did I Get Married Too?” opened with $29 million. The previous year, “Madea Goes to Jail” opened with $41 million, his highest opening.

Perry’s Lionsgate deal kicked off with 2005’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” which grossed $50 million despite having a micro budget. “A Madea Family Funeral” is the 11th theatrical film to feature Perry as Madea over the course of 14 years. The Madea films have grossed more than $500 million to date.

In third place, Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” added $7 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $72.2 million.

At No. 4, Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” added $6.6 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $91.7 million.

Following three Oscar wins, including best picture, Universal’s “Green Book” crept back into the top five after 16 weekends in theaters, adding 1,388 locations (the largest theater increase a best picture nominee has ever received the weekend following the ceremony) and $4.7 million for a cumulative $75.9 million.

This weekend’s haul is the third biggest weekend gross for the film. Ticket sales were at a high during the film’s initial wide release expansion in late November and again in late January in the wake of its five Oscar nominations.

Other Oscar winners that saw a notable bump this weekend include Sony’s animated feature winner “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which added 1,661 locations (for a total of 2,404) and $2.1 million in its 12th weekend for a cumulative $187.4 million and Warner Bros.’ “A Star Is Born,” which added 490 locations and $1.8 million in its 22nd weekend for a cumulative $213 million.

Also new this week, Focus Features’ “Greta” opened at No. 8 with $4.6 million, just below analyst predictions of a soft $5-million opening.

The dark mystery stars Isabelle Huppert and Chloe Grace Moretz as a pair of New York transplants who bond over a sense of loneliness. It earned a 58% “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In a limited IMAX release, Neon released the documentary “Apollo 11” in 120 locations with $1.6 million, a per-screen average of $13,750. The film opens in traditional theaters next week.

A24 released Gasper Noe’s “Climax” in five locations with $121,655, a per-screen average of $24,331.

Next week, Disney debuts the highly anticipated “Captain Marvel,” starring Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, which is expected to give the box office a much-needed jolt. The year-to-date total now trails 2018 by 25.8%.

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