Friday’s openings: Dogs and the undead

As expected, two of Friday's openings — the M. Night Shyamalan feature "Split" and the action flick "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage" — topped the weekend box-office list. But the surprise continues to be how well the film "Hidden Figures" holds up.

"Split" earn some $40 million, while "xXx" took in about half that amount. "Hidden Figures" grossed an estimated $16 million — bringing its five-week total to just more than $84 million. Not bad for a film about how African-American women contributed to the then-infant U.S. space program.

Meanwhile, "Silence" — the Martin Scorsese film that opened wide in Spokane last week at virtually the last moment — has grossed barely $5 million over its five-week run.

The schedule for local theaters concerning the coming week is still up in the air. But the national schedule mentions three possibilities:

"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter": Milla Jovovich makes one last stand against the Umbrella Corporation and its army of the undead. The "final" part of the title likely will hold until the franchise reboot.

"A Dog's Purpose": A dog lives several lives, enriching the experiences of the humans it partners with. Dog owners give it two paws up.

"Gold": Two men (one of them played by Matthew McConaughey) dream of hitting an Indonesian vein of gold. Or is it just a pipe dream?

That's all for the moment. I'll update when the information becomes available.