While ticket sales for “The Lego Movie 2” haven’t been as awesome as expected, the animated sequel still topped the February box office.
“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part,” featuring the voices of Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks, earned $83.3 million this month, topping the IMDbPro and Box Office Mojo highest domestic-grossing films in February 2019, which was exclusively revealed to MarketWatch ahead of the report’s release on Tuesday.
The latest installment in the Warner Bros. franchise was expected to reel in around $50 million its opening weekend, but it earned $35 million — about half of the $69 million that the original “Lego Movie” hauled in during its first weekend in 2014.
Don’t miss: ‘The Lego Movie 2’ opens an underwhelming No. 1 at box office
The miss reflects an overall lackluster February for the film industry, with movies earning $633 million in total — not up to scratch with February 2018’s more than $1 billion domestic total gross, which was a record high for the month thanks to the Disney-owned DIS, -0.37% Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther,” which clawed in $428.8 million over just two weeks during its opening month.
“The 2019 domestic box office has gotten off to a slow start, but that is likely to change as we head into March, which is headlined by Disney’s release of Marvel’s ‘Captain Marvel’ as well as director Jordan Peele’s ‘Us,’ the highly anticipated follow-up to his 2017 smash hit ‘Get Out,’” said Brad Brevet, editor of the IMDbPro box office reporting service, Box Office Mojo, in a statement. “With 10 months left in 2019 and several likely blockbusters making their way to audiences in that time, we could still be looking at another year where domestic grosses reach record heights.”
The sci-fi fantasy “Alita: Battle Angel” took second place with $61 million, while “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” roared third with $57.5 million. The controversial Oscar Best Picture “Green Book” anchored the list in 10th place with $18.1 million.
Here are the top-10 grossing films in February 2019:
1. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part — $83.3 million
2. Alita: Battle Angel — $61 million
3. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World — $57.5 million
4. What Men Want — $45.1 million
5. Isn’t It Romantic — $33.4 million
6. The Upside — $33 million
7. Glass — $28.8 million
8. Cold Pursuit — $27 million
9. Happy Death Day 2U — $21.5 million
10. Green Book — $18.1 million
The IMDB Pro/Box Office Mojo also listed the upcoming March theatrical releases that audiences are most excited about, based on the page views of the more than 250 million monthly unique visitors to IMDb.com. And “Captain Marvel,” the MCU’s first female-fronted superhero movie starring Oscar winner Brie Larson, tops the list.
The anticipated Disney/Marvel flick’s ticket pre-sales rank among Fandango’s top three ever for a Marvel movie, Deadline reported. So it’s possible that Larson’s Carol Danvers, aka Captain Marvel, could swoop in and punch up these box office numbers when she debuts on March 8.
Audiences are also looking forward to Peele’s next thriller “Us,” which went viral when its first trailer dropped on Christmas Day, initially earning 12.2 million views on the original Twitter post and 4.8 million views at the time on YouTube.
Here are the 10 most-anticipated movies opening in U.S. theaters in March 2019:
1. Captain Marvel — March 8
2. Us — March 21
3. Climax — March 1
4. The Dirt — March 22
5. Greta — March 1
6. The Beach Bum — March 29
7. Dumbo — March 29
8. Five Feet Apart — March 15
9. The Highwaymen — March
10. I’m Not Here — March 8
