It was a tough battle between John Krasinski’s almost-silent thriller A Quiet Place and Dwayne Johnson’s noisy action-adventure Rampage but in the end, New Line/Warner Bros’ 800-pound gorilla triumphed. The game-inspired Rampage took both the domestic and international box offices for a grand total of $ 148.6 million – $114 million from 61 overseas markets and $ 34.5 million in the US and Canada. 

Loosely based on the Midway Games creation, Rampage reunites Johnson with his San Andreas director, Brad Peyton, in the story of a primatologist (Johnson) battling a man-made pathogen which turns animals into gigantic, out-of-control monsters, including his beloved friend, an albino gorilla. In spite of its lead on the domestic box office, Rampage did not meet expectations: first tracking had indicated a US/Canada total in the $35 million-$40 million range, at least (by comparison, San Andreas opened to $ 54 million). The fact that it struggled to beat a much smaller film, A Quiet Place, in its second week out, confirms that Rampage was, indeed, below its expected firepower. 

Internationally, however, the gorilla saga was a hit, with China leading the way with $55 million out of the $ 114 million total.  Rampage was also number 1 in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, with the UK, Korea, Mexico, and Malaysia bringing in the highest box office numbers. 

Number two in the Middle Kingdom was another Warner Bros. release, Ready Player One. Steven Spielberg’s virtual reality adventure is rocking an international cume of $360.2 million, $ 190 million from China alone. 

A Quiet Place is holding strong overseas, as well, with another $ 22.3 million coming in and totaling $151. 3 million in worldwide take –  with Russiam Korea and Germany taking the lead. The modestly-budgeted thriller – $ 21 million- has proven to be a healthily profitable title- and key markets such as China, France, Japan and Spain have yet to see it.  

Another horror thriller, Truth or Dare, the latest collaboration between Universal and Blumhouse, opened strong with $ 19.2 in the US– on Friday the 13th, nonetheless.