World Box Office

Just three months after he hit theaters with The Post, Steven Spielberg is back with Ready Player One, bringing to the screens the virtual universe created by Ernest Cline’s bestseller and its many references to the Reagan years, including Back to the Future, Saturday Night Fever, The Shining and the Atari 2600 gaming system. And it worked.

With $28 million, the domestic debut of Pacific Rim Uprising was not a spectacular one. It actually ended up $10 million below Guillermo del Toro’s 2013 original.

Sometimes in life you can win by losing. It happens also at the box office, where if you look at the international chart of this past weekend the big winner is Tomb Raider.

It was supposed to be a Disney vs. Disney weekend.

Wakanda forever, indeed. For the third week in a row, Black Panther has vanquished all competition, holding the box office’s top spot with ease: $65.

Black Panther keeps defying expectations and collecting records, at the same time turning increasingly into a unique cultural phenomenon. On its second frame the Disney/Marvel fantasy earned $111.

Yes, the buzz was huge and all analysts had predicted Black Panther was going to be a big success. Disney and Marvel knew the numbers were going to be enormous.

This weekend’s biggest worldwide entertainment event was the launch of the 23rd Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. It may be a uniquely beautiful festival of sport but it’s no Super Bowl, and worldwide box office numbers weren’t troubled by this highflying competition.

While most of America was glued to its TV sets watching the Eagles’ thrilling last minute victory over the New England Patriots to deny them a sixth Super Bowl trophy, another titan in their field made a comeback in this weekend’s box office showdown. Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which has grossed a remarkable $855 million worldwide, came back from a second-place slump last week to pick up its fifth top domestic finish, albeit at only $11 million in an all-around slow theatergoing weekend.

Fox’Maze Runner: The Death Cure finally unseated January Champ Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, taking $23. 5 million to beat the incumbent film’s $16.