LOS ANGELES -- It's a new day for director M. Night Shyamalan, as psychological thriller Split dominated at the box office with about a $26 million weekend in its second week of release.
The film, starring James McAvoy as an individual with multiple personalities, scored just a 34 percent drop from its $40 million opening weekend, despite traditionally steep second-weekend earnings drop-offs for horror films. The big second weekend brings the Universal Pictures film to a 10-day total of about $77.4 million.
Despite controversy dogging its release, Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment's A Dog's Purpose settled for second in its opening weekend, earning about $18.2 million.
Telling the tale of a dog -- voiced by Josh Gad -- with multiple lifetimes, in lieu of multiple personalities, the family-0friendly film faced resistance when footage featuring a German shepherd struggling to avoid a water-based stunt went viral, sparking public outcry and a PETA protest.
Screen Gems' Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the sixth installment of the video-game-inspired series starring Milla Jovovich, brought in about $14 million in its opening weekend, good enough for fourth place at the domestic box office.
Despite coming in at No. 4 domestically, overseas is where the film truly shines, having made over $64 million internationally to date.
Rounding out the weekend's top five are two Academy Award best picture hopefuls.
Hidden Figures, the true story of three black female mathematicians working for NASA during the 1960s, which earned three Oscar nominations last week, landed in third place, bringing in $14 million in its sixth weekend of release.
The 20th Century Fox film, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, has earned $104 million since its Christmas premiere.
Best picture front-runner, Lionsgate's La La Land, also saw a box-office boost from its record-tying 14 Oscar nominations, bringing in $12.2 million for the weekend and breaking the $100 million mark domestically and abroad over the weekend, bringing its global cumulative total to more than $223 million.
Paramount's xXx: Return of Xander Cage, starring Vin Diesel, continues to underperform at the box office, with a sharp 59 percent drop from its first weekend earnings, bringing in just $8.6 million in its second weekend of release, landing in sixth place for the weekend.
Despite no animated feature Oscar nomination, Universal's musical Sing continues to sing a happy tune, taking in $6.4 million in its sixth weekend of release, good enough for seventh place.
Disney's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story earned about $5.3 million for eighth place, after breaking the $1 billion global benchmark last week.
Paramount's Monster Trucks brought in about $4.2 million in its third weekend, bringing its total to $28.2 million through Sunday.
The Weinstein Co.'s Gold, starring Matthew McConaughey in a tale inspired by a 1993 Indonesian mining scandal, rounds out the weekend's top 10, taking in about $3.5 million in its first weekend of release.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:
Split, Universal, $25,655,440, 3,199 locations, $8,020 average, $77,385,530, two weeks.
A Dog's Purpose, Universal, $18,222,810, 3,058 locations, $5,959 average, $18,222,810, one week.
Hidden Figures, 20th Century Fox, $14,003,275, 3,351 locations, $4,179 average, $104,024,969, six weeks.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Screen Gems, $13,601,682, 3,104 locations, $4,382 average, $13,601,682, one week.
La La Land, Lionsgate, $12,233,928, 3,136 locations, $3,901 average, $106,693,300, eight weeks.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount, $8,601,858, 3,651 locations, $2,356 average, $33,839,608, two weeks.
Sing, Universal, $6,408,210, 2,702 locations, $2,372 average, $257,599,585, six weeks.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney, $5,274,513, 2,049 locations, $2,574 average, $520,200,086, seven weeks.
Monster Trucks, Paramount, $4,177,101, 2,496 locations, $1,674 average, $28,212,248, three weeks.
Gold, The Weinstein Co., $3,471,316, 2,166 locations, $1,603 average, $3,471,316, one week.
Patriots Day, Lionsgate, $2,774,772, 1,847 locations, $1,502 average, $28,306,013, six weeks.
The Founder, The Weinstein Co., $2,606,832, 1,115 locations, $2,338 average, $7,433,899, two weeks.
Moana, Disney, $2,479,845, 1,894 locations, $1,309 average, $240,170,441, 10 weeks.
Lion, The Weinstein Co., $2,348,719, 575 locations, $4,085 average, $19,718,591, 10 weeks.
Manchester by the Sea, Roadside Attractions, $2,054,739, 1,168 locations, $1,759 average, $41,568,878, 11 weeks.
Raees, Independent Indian, $1,798,379, 256 locations, $7,025 average, $1,798,379, one week.
Sleepless, Open Road, $1,750,083, 1,055 locations, $1,659 average, $17,813,578, three weeks.
Moonlight, A24, $1,489,470, 1,104 locations, $1,349 average, $17,714,849, 15 weeks.
Arrival, Paramount, $1,473,440, 1,221 locations, $1,207 average, $97,328,639, 12 weeks.
Fences, Paramount, $1,443,074, 880 locations, $1,640 average, $50,822,683, seven weeks.
MovieStyle on 02/03/2017