Initial Reaction: Video Review - MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

It was always kind of a given that Thor: Ragnarok would take the top spot at the box office for a second week in a row, but that didn't mean there was going to be a fight for second! And while Marvel's seventeenth entry in their cinematic universe did indeed take the top spot bringing in another $56.6 million for what was only a 56% drop in its second weekend, pushing the film's domestic gross over $211 million after just ten days in release giving it enough to have already bested the domestic gross for both the first Thor ($181m) and Thor: The Dark World ($206.3m). So, while some might be thinking super hero fatigue will have to set in eventually there seems to be no sign of slowing the MCU as things only continue to get bigger, more lucrative, and just as well received if not more so as the franchise marches on. We're not really hear to talk about Thor: Ragnarok though, but rather the focus is on the two new big releases over last weekend as both the topic of our review this week, Kenneth Branagh's re-envisioning of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, as well as Daddy's Home 2, the sequel to the Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg surprise smash from two years ago, both put up a solid fight for that second place spot. When it came down to it though, it was Daddy's Home 2 that pulled out the win to the tune of a $30 million opening which is $8.7 million less than the first film did over the 2015 Christmas holiday, but given this sequel has the Thanksgiving holiday next week and then all of December this is a seemingly great start for the $100 million picture. And so, now we come to third place where the star-studded Murder on the Orient Express also opened solidly with $28.2 million on a production budget of $55 million. While both I and my co-host this week, Daniel Wingfield who was filling in for Charles, found the film to be pleasant enough with it ultimately being a nice option for moviegoers to have over the holidays more than anything I was curious as to what type of crowd would get out and see the film on the big screen. Per opening weekend numbers, Orient Express played to an audience that was 56% female vs. 44% male with 51% of the overall audience being 35 years of age or older. That said, it will be interesting to see how the film competes over the holiday next week as things begin to get crowded starting with the arrival of Justice League tomorrow and Disney/Pixar's Coco next week. As always, be sure to follow the official Initial Reaction YouTube channel as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where you can find a new review (or reviews) each week!



Read my full Murder on the Orient Express review here.


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