South Africa’s box office: Boss Baby is boss, baby

It turns out talking babies are not as universally creepy as I thought they were — allowing Dreamworks’ Boss Baby to debut at top of the box office this weekend. The film may have had a lucky break, though, considering its premiere right before the Easter weekend, when Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (review) is set to take home all of the money. But how else did the other films fare this weekend? (7 to 9 April)

The answer: pretty much the same as last week. Because of the upcoming holiday, and the fact that US summer looms ever closer, most films are holding out for release.

This week only saw one other new entry to the top 10: the Matthew McConaughey-led Gold, about a white man who exploits Indonesian land and labour for profit. Needless to say, the film didn’t do well on South African soil, and just squeezed itself into a tenth spot debut.

The biggest drop from last week came from Power Rangers (review), which fell all the way from fourth to seventh — despite not having much new competition. The film couldn’t hold out next to blockbuster competition like Kong: Skull Island (review), now in fourth, or Ghost in The Shell, now in third.

Interestingly, Logan: The Wolverine (review) and Keeping Up with the Kandasamys both take home the prize for longest-running top 10 titles this week, with both of them debuting five weeks ago. Logan, which debuted at number one, is now in eighth spot, while homegrown Kandasamys (which debuted in third) is only down to sixth.

Low budget comedy horror Get Out (review) has crawled its way back from the sunken place into ninth, replacing the fallen CHiPs and Kampterrein.

Here are ten most-watched movies in SA this past weekend:

1. Boss Baby (incl. 3D)
2. Smurfs: The Lost Village (incl. 3D)
3. Ghost in the Shell (incl. 3D, 4DX & Imax)
4. Kong: Skull Island (Incl. 3D, 4DX & Imax)
5. John Wick: Chapter Two (incl. 4Dx)
6. Keeping up with the Kandasamys 
7. Power Rangers (incl. 4DX)
8. Logan: The Wolverine (incl. 4DX & Imax)
9. Get Out
10. Gold

All stats were provided by Ster Kinekor Entertainment.