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Movie Monday: No Question: ‘IF’ Takes the Win

Nope, it’s not your imagination. IF, a PG film about forcibly retired imaginary friends, took the box-office crown with a respectable $35 million weekend in North America, according to early estimates. (It earned another $24 million overseas.)

Did the movie’s makers hope for more? Unquestionably. The experts were expecting IF—what with Ryan Reynolds starring and a bevy of A-list voice talents on its roster—to collect at least $40 million stateside. It fell short of that mark. But The Hollywood Reporter noted that it’s performing quite well when compared to other original PG-rated live-action flicks. Moreover, kid-centric films tend to do well over the long haul. We’ll see if this cadre of imaginary friends has legs.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes may have ceded its No. 1 spot on the charts to IF, but the film still proved that it’s not (ahem) monkeying around. Kingdom earned another $26 million domestically, pushing its overall North American haul to $101.2 million. Add in its take overseas, and the latest Planet of the Apes film has banked $237.5 million.

The Strangers: Chapter 1 invaded theaters to the tune of $12 million, which lodged the horror film into bronze medal territory for the weekend. That was more than enough to push The Fall Guy, with its meager $8.5 million, into fourth place. Challengers finished a very distant fifth with $2.9 million—just enough to hold off newcomer Back to Black. The latter, based on the tragic life and career of the late neo-soul singer Amy Winehouse, earned just under $2.9 million domestically to finish sixth. The biopic has done much better internationally, though, raking in around $36.6 million overseas. So no rehab needed yet for Back to Black. No, no, no.

paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.