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‘Ready Player One’ Performs Strong At The Box Office

By Anthony Carranza
Published on: 05:07 PST, Apr 6, 2018

Directed by Steven Spielberg, Ready Player One dominated the box office during Easter. The movie grossed $53 million over a four-day period. Two recent movies released on April 6, A Quiet Place and Blockers, will attempt to slow the momentum of Spielberg’s science fiction adventure film.

The film, which is based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller, has become a worldwide phenomenon. Ready Player One is set in the year 2045 and follows a teenager, Wade Watts, who connects into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS.

According to Box Office Mojo, Ready Player One delivered big results internationally and grossed $128 million. The box office performance was the largest opening weekend for Spielberg since the debut of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. In other words, the movie’s director had not produced successful numbers in a decade.

“The film also brought in an estimated $8.1 million in South Korea along with $7.3 million in the UK, $6.1 million in Russia, $6 million in France, $4 million in Mexico, $3.1 million in both Spain and Italy, and $2.2 million in Brazil. Looking ahead, the film opens in Germany this coming Thursday, April 5, followed by an April 20 opening in Japan,” wrote Box Office Mojo.

The word of mouth has favored Spielberg’s film. Furthermore, its high rating of 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb has boosted the film’s visibility.

Box Office Mojo predicts that Ready Player One will experience a 51 percent drop this weekend. As a result, it could finish in second or third place at the box office.

As reported by Forbes, the film grossed $120 million in China. On a daily average estimate, Ready Player One brought in $26 million. This means the movie is on track to become Hollywood’s biggest export in China this year. Also, it is on pace to surpass G.I Joe: Retaliation, which tallied $62.5 million, and within striking distance of Terminator: Salvation ($71 million).

Elsewhere, the milestones keep adding up. Ready Player One will eventually pass Terminator: Genesis ($113 million), which was released in 2015.

Since the movie is centered around a virtual reality video game, its box office performance in China comes as no surprise. Forbes explained in its review of the film that anything related to video games is bound for success in this particular market.

“The film is a glorified virtual reality video game and was almost certain to do well in a country filled with avid gamers. That’s partially why Legendary’s Warcraft was a big deal in China for about a hot minute in the summer of 2016, earning $90 million in its first two days before collapsing for a $217m total,” Forbes wrote in a post.

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