M Night Shyamalan’s revival as a commercial force was underlined by the figures for his multiple-personality thriller Split’s second week at the US box office: it held on to the No 1 spot with an estimated $26.3m for a total of $77.9m, well ahead of second-placed family movie A Dog’s Purpose, which managed $18.4m.

Opinion remains divided as to whether the controversy around the latter film – triggered by a video apparently showing a frightened dog being forced to perform a stunt – has affected the box office, after protests called by animal rights activists Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). Nick Carpou, head of distribution at Universal, told Variety: “It opened right in the sweet spot, if not on the higher end of expectations.” However Jeff Bock, an analyst with entertainment research outfit Exhibitor Relations said: “What happened did hurt the box office … $25m was easily in reach before the controversy.” Bock also suggested the film won’t “sustain itself like a family film usually does”.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was the week’s second high-earning new entry, landing in fourth place with $13.8m, but finished below another impressive set of figures for Hidden Figures, the drama about black women mathematicians who worked on the 1960s space programme, and which has proved the unlikely hit of the year so far. Presumably benefiting from three Oscar nominations – for best picture, best adapted screenplay, and best supporting actress for Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures recorded $14m in its sixth week. Another big Oscar movie, La La Land, retained fifth place, with $12.1m, after boosting its takings by 43% by doubling its screen count.

This contrasts strongly with the tepid interest shown in the latest Matthew McConaughey movie, Gold: the based-on-reality thriller about a mining scandal opened in 10th place with $3.5m – a very disappointing result considering its 2,000-plus screen count.

Meanwhile The Salesman, the Oscar-nominated new film from Iranian director Asghar Farhadi opened this week, taking just over $71,000 from three screens. The continuing outrage over the exclusion of Farhadi from the US in the wake of Trump’s visa ban may see that figure jump dramatically next week.

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