♫ Jesus Christ... Movie Star! ♫

A Minecraft Movie held firm atop both the domestic and global box office with a hold on par with Beauty and the Beast. Meanwhile, two faith-specific films opened with good-to-great grosses relative to their expectations and obligations. The King of Kings was a much-needed hit for Angel Studios and earned a comparatively robust debut for a non-Disney/Comcast animated film. Drop was the latest underperformer for the previously over-indexing Blumhouse. In a more challenging theatrical ecosystem, 20th Century Studios’ The Amateur opened about on par, give or take, with what might have been expected from an adult-skewing, “new to you” high-concept Fox-released espionage thriller. Additionally, The Chosen’s three-part theatrical release of its eight season-five episodes must be a blueprint for Sony’s eventual release strategy for their four-film Beatles opus.  Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe