Us Owns the Box Office

Universal‘s Us came out on top of the box office this weekend with a $70.3 opener, rocketing past analysts’ expectations of $35 million to $45 million. The Jordan Peele-helmed film also broke records for an opening horror film, surpassing A Quiet Place and is the second-best opener this year behind Captain Marvel ($153 million). Overseas, Us kicked the party off with $16.7 million, bringing the global haul up to just shy of $87 million.

Seeing as the budget was $20 million, this is a major coup, observers say. “Put simply, Jordan Peele is a genius,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “He’s managed to tap into something that the domestic box office can’t get enough of. People can’t wait to see what he does next.”

Us, which stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, currently has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes ranking.

Meanwhile, Brie Larson‘s Captain Marvel continued to kick butt and take names at the B.O., bringing in an additional $35 million this year, for a total haul of $320 million domestically alone; globally, Captain Marvel as surged past $900 million and is the 10^th-biggest superhero movie of all time.