Is Ready Player One Strong Enough to Repeat at the Weekend Box Office?

March went out like a lion at thebox officethis past weekend, with the Warner Bros. adaptationReady Player Onetaking in $41.7 million in its domestic opening, while the movie also fared quite well overseas, with $127.5 million, for a worldwide debut of $181.2 million. The movie’s reign at the top may be short-lived, with four movies arriving in wide release, Universal’s R-rated comedyBlockers, Paramount’s thrillerA Quiet Place, Mirror/LD’s dramaA Miracle Seasonand Entertainment Studios' thrillerChappaquiddick. Barring either an extremely huge or extremely minimal decrease fromReady Player One, it should be a very close race between Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi fantasy,BlockersandA Quiet Place, but ultimatelyA Quiet Placeshould come out on top with a projected $26.8 million, followed closely behind byBlockersandReady Player One.

A Quiet Placehas been building a steady stream of buzz since the first “silent” trailer surfaced last year, and after premiering at theSXSWFilm Festival last month to exceptionally glowing reviews. With just a few days left until it hits theaters,A Quiet Placestill has a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes intact, out of 47 reviews. While there will be many more reviews flooding in over the next few days, it will be interesting to see how the RT score will fluctuate, if it will at all. Its main competitorBlockershas also been a critical hit with an 87% rating, and we’re projecting a second place debut of $24.5 million, followed byReady Player Onein third with $22.6 million.

Blockersis also coming off a strong, critically-acclaimed debut at the SXSW Festival, and while it’s certainly rare for an R-rated comedy, should giveA Quiet Placea run for its money.Blockersis expected to have the highest rollout this weekend with an estimated 3,300 theaters, whileA Quiet Placeis expected to roll out in 3,200 theaters.The Miracle Seasonis expected to roll out in 1,700 theaters withChappaquiddickdebuting in 1,500 theaters this weekend. Chappaquiddick is also winning favor with the critics with a 74% rating on RT, although there is not enough reviews forThe Miracle Seasonjust yet.

We’re predicting that the top 10 will be rounded out byTyler Perry’s Acrimonyin fourth place with $11.3 million, followed byBlack Panther($8.4 million),I Can Only Imagine($6.8 million),Pacific Rim Uprising($4.4 million),Sherlock Gnomes($3.2 million),Chappaquiddick($3 million) andThe Miracle Season($2.7 million). Also slated to debut in limited release is A24’sLean On Pete, Well Go USA’sThe Endless, Abramorama’sThe Heart of Nuba, Warner Bros.‘Pandas, Cohen Media Group’sSpiral, Great Poin’sWhere Is Kyra?and Amazon Studios’You Were Never Here. There is no indication yet as to whether or not these movies will expand into wide release or not.

Looking ahead to next weekend, four more newcomers arrive in wide release, with Warner Bros./New Line’sRampage, Universal’sTruth or Dare, Neon’sBorg Vs. McEnroeand Fun Academy’sSgt. Stubby: An American Hero. Fox Searchlight is also expandingIsle of Dogsnationwide after two successful weekends in limited release. Take a look at our projected top 10 for the weekend of April 6, and check back on Sunday for the top 10 estimates, courtesy ofBox Office Mojo.