Following his surprise breakout debut “Get Out” Jordan Peele has become a name people will turn up for when his name is attached. His follow up horror effort debuts this weekend and while it was expected to be a hit there was plenty of speculation on how successful it could become. How much clout did he rate, can he repeat the success in another horror effort, and where would it rank among March releases.

Also in question was how much impact would a strong Marvel effort have on its performance? Add to that DC was holding preview screenings of its own superhero title “Shazam!”, and there were plenty of question marks going into the weekend. Universal needn’t have worried.

US – $70.2 Million
Early projections were for a $50 million opening, and possibly higher. Friday’s strong open saw it get bumped to the $60 million range, but Saturday held strong for Jordan Peele’s sophomore effort and he is now credited with the third highest horror debut in history. This opening more than doubles the debut of “Get Out”, establishing Peele as a desired director. The biggest surprise is that the exit polls reflect some audience resistance, receiving only a “B” CinemaScore. This seems to indicate some of the debate over the ending of the film, creating a debate among those who have seen the film. That will be interesting to see if it affects the longer prospects for the title.

2. CAPTAIN MARVEL – $35.02m
The divisive character has been continuing its streak of drawing audiences. Still on over 4,200 screens it has now earned over $300 million domestically, and its global total now stands over $900 million. It sits in the top 10 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

3. WONDER PARK – $9.0m
An also-ran title opening last week it has held relatively well enough, dropping -43% which is respectable among normal animated releases. It will still be a longshot to breaking even for Paramount.

4. Five Feet Apart – $8.75m
A relatively moderate success, by the standards of Lionsgate/CBS Films. They did not invest too heavily into this teen romance, so profitability is assured now.

5. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD – $6.53m
Performing well, if not great, considering the tough domestic competition, globally it has been successful overall, so Universal DreamWorks is likely quite happy with the returns.

6. TYLER PERRY’S A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL – $4.5m
The last installment from Perry’s successful alter ego is now its third most popular of all the Madea titles.

* 7. SHAZAM! – $3.3m
*Technically these new advance screenings are not counted as actual releases.     This is a rather impressive showing for the DC hero film that has its official opening on April 5. The select showings were only on Saturday, in a promotion through Fandango, so this figure is all the more impressive. To see how well it performed, these returns are better than the advanced showing they staged for “How To Train Your Dragon 3”, and even for “Aquaman”.

8. GLORIA BELL – $1.8m
A limited release drama with Julianne Moore as a middle aged woman getting caught up in nightlife, it is a remake of a Chilean drama. It expanded into 650 theaters to enter the list.

9. NO MANCHES FRIDA – $1.78m
The Mexican comedy is holding up while showing on just 475 screens.

10. THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART – $1.12m
Having barely made it to the $100 million plateau it is now on its way out of theaters, after aa not very awesome run.