Split is being widely hailed as a return to form for writer/director M. Night Shyamalan, and the film's first weekend at the American box office certainly seems to be bearing that out. The new thriller topped the charts in its debut, earning a studio-estimated $40.1 million.
That meant another talked-about return (though not necessarily for such positive reasons) had to make do with a second-place kickoff. xXx: Return Of Xander Cage brought Vin Diesel back to the OTT action franchise, but it wasn't quite the re-ignition he might have hoped for, at least in terms of critical reaction and now with punters. $20 million isn't a great start for a film that cost at least $85 million to make, and the producers will no doubt be hoping the international figures help boost the take. The two newcomers pushed Hidden Figures down to third place, but the story of unacknowledged space race heroes still managed to earn $16.2 million despite having spent five weeks in the charts. The popular film added screens and has made more than $84 million in the US alone so far.
Fourth place was recent Empire Pod guest host Garth Jennings' Sing, still doing solid business after its own five-week run. The animated comedy earned $9 million this weekend, bringing its Stateside total to $249.3 million. Worldwide, the movie has passed $400 million. La La Land fell from second to fifth and made $8.3 million.
It might have slipped a place to sixth, but Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and its Disney backers will be happy as the movie (which took in $7.03 million this weekend in the US) has now passed the $1 billion mark at the global box office. So much for the boycott, then... Monster Trucks stayed in seventh place, adding $7 million, while Patriots Day made $6 million.
New drama The Founder – which sees Michael Keaton as the man who scored the rights to build the McDonald's franchise through underhanded tactics – launched in ninth place on $3.75 million. With a more limited screen count than some of its competition, this one will be hoping to build a platform release. And at 10th, the largely forgotten Jamie Foxx thriller Sleepless made $3.70 million as it prepares to leave the top 10 after just a couple of weeks on release.