For the third straight weekend, Split rules the box office, bringing a little over $14 million, topping Paramount Pictures’ horror flick, Rings (grossing $13 million).
Self-funded by Shyamalan himself ($9 million), the psychological thriller now has earned $98.7 million in North America. Overseas, it stands above additional $14 million, totaling $44 million to be exact when it comes to its foreign market profits. Worldwide, it stands at $142 million.
As we reported some time last week, Split hasn’t opened yet in some countries–by the end of February, if it remains strong, it’s safe to say it will stop at $200 million mark, if not more. Or who knows, it may leap over $200 million. It’s just that good, meaning the audiences not just in North America, but overseas see value in original content. Perhaps, this also means the era of blockbusters, Marvel and DC both, is making audiences tired. Whether that’s the case or not, we’ll find out surely in a few years as both brands, respectively, are still going head to head, competing with less interesting plots or no plot at all, by depending heavily on their larger than life characters.
Hopefully, Split inspires more filmmakers and writers, as well as producers and passionate independent financiers to get hold of the self-funding method, frenetically, changing the current paradigm, relying more on originality, but less when it comes to plot-less features.
Split is still playing everywhere.
