Can The Great Wall Overtake LEGO Batman at the Box Office?

After easily conquering highly-anticipated sequelsFifty Shades DarkerandJohn Wick 2,LEGO Batman Moviehas its sights set on three more newcomers hitting theaters this weekend, to retain itsbox office crown. The animated spin-off will go up against Universal’s big budget action epicThe Great Wall, starringMatt Damon, Warner Bros.' comedyFist FightstarringIce CubeandCharlie Dayand 20th Century Fox’sA Cure For WellnessstarringDane DeHaan. We’re predicting that, at least for this weekend,The LEGO Batman Moviefinds a way to stay on top at the box office, with a projected $29.6 million.

One reason thatThe LEGO Batman Moviewill likely stay on top is because it will still be playing in hundreds of more theaters than any of these newcomers.The LEGO Batman Moviedebuted in 4,088 theaters last weekend, a number that will likely remain unchanged this Friday, withBox Office Mojoreporting thatThe Great Wallwill have the widest release of these newcomers with approximately 3,200 theaters, followed byFist Fightin roughly 3,000 theaters andA Cure For Wellnessarriving in 2,700 theaters. While there are not enough reviews in forFist Fightyet to warrant a Rotten Tomatoes score, neitherThe Great Wall(39% on RT) norA Cure For Wellness(35% on RT) are shaping up to be critical hits.

We’re predicting thatThe Great Walldebuts in second place with $20.6 million, followed byJohn Wick: Chapter 2in third place with $19.4 million,Fifty Shades Darkerin fourth place with $18.7 million andFist Fightrounding out the top 5 with $17.6 million. Since this top 5 is so closely packed together, these could change quite a bit, but it all depends on how big of a decrease bothJohn Wick 2andFifty Shades Darkersuffer, especially since they both debuted on opposite ends of their predecessors.John Wick 2’s $30.6 million opening was more than twice as much asJohn Wick’s $14.4 million debut in 2014, whileFifty Shades Darker’s $46.6 million is just under half ofFifty Shades of Grey’s $85.1 million debut. That opening also represented 51.3% of its total domestic take, with the erotic thriller dropping a whopping 73.9% in its second weekend.

Starring global superstarMatt Damonand directed by one of the most breathtaking visual stylists of our time,Zhang Yimou(Hero,House of Flying Daggers), Legendary’sThe Great Walltells the story of an elite force making a valiant stand for humanity on the world’s most iconic structure. The first English-language production forYimouis the largest film ever shot entirely in China.The Great Wallalso starsJing Tian,Pedro Pascal,Willem DafoeandAndy Lau.The Great Wallhas come under fire in the past for its “whitewashed” casting ofMatt Damonin the lead role, but that controversy seems to have simmered down for now, but it remains to be seen how that will affect the box office.

Ice Cube and Charlie Daystar as high school teachers prepared to solve their differences the hard way in Fist Fight. On the last day of the school year, mild-mannered high school English teacher Andy Campbell (Charlie Day) is trying his best to keep it together amidst outrageous senior pranks, a dysfunctional administration and budget cuts that are putting his job on the line just as his wife is expecting their second baby. But things go from bad to worse when Campbell crosses the school’s toughest and most feared teacher, Ron Strickland (Ice Cube), causing Strickland to be fired. To Campbell’s shock, not to mention utter terror, Strickland responds by challenging him to a fist fight after school. News of the fight spreads like wildfire as Campbell takes ever more desperate measures to avoid getting the crap beaten out of him. But if he actually shows up and throws down, it may end up being the very thing this school, and Andy Campbell, needed.

A Cure For Wellnesscenters on an ambitious young executive who is sent to retrieve his company’s CEO from an idyllic but mysterious “wellness center” at a remote location in the Swiss Alps. He soon suspects that the spa’s miraculous treatments are not what they seem. When he begins to unravel its terrifying secrets, his sanity is tested, as he finds himself diagnosed with the same curious illness that keeps all the guests here longing for the cure. FromGore Verbinski, the visionary director ofThe Ring, comes the new psychological thriller,A Cure For Wellness. The cast includesDane DeHaan,Jason Isaacs,Celia Imrie,Susanne Wuest,Mia GothandLisa Banes.

Rounding out the top 10 this weekend will likely beA Cure for Wellness($8.5 million),Split($6.2 million),Hidden Figures($5.9 million),A Dog’s Purpose($3.8 million) andRings($2.9 million). Also opening in limited release that weekend is IFC’sAmerican Fable, Pantelion’sEverybody Loves Somebody, Sony Pictures Classics’Land of Mine, Strand’sLovesongand Reliance Big Pictures’Runningshaadi.com.Everybody Loves Somebodyis expected to debut in 325 theaters, but no theater counts were given for the rest of these platform titles. It remains to be seen whether any of these movies will expand into a nationwide release in the weeks ahead.

Looking ahead to next weekend, three new movies arrive in wide release, with Open Road Films' action-thrillerCollide, Universal’s horror-thrillerGet Outand Lionsagate’s animated featureRock Dog. Also arriving in limited release is Roadside Attractions’Bitter Harvest, CJ Entertainment’s action filmFabricated City, Film Movement’s dramaPelle the Conqueror, Well Go USA’s comedyPunching Henry, The Weinstein Company’s dramaTulip Fevrand Real Women’s dramatic comedyYear By the Sea. Check back on Sunday for the box office estimates, and again next Tuesday for the next wave of predictions. Until then, here’s our projections for the weekend of February 17.