*UPDATE* The box office for Justice League was adjusted to $94M, lower than the already-disappointing $96M reported earlier. It’s unclear what this means for Warner Bros. and DC Films, but not even hitting the $100M mark is a sign that maybe something needs to change. My thoughts on what could be are below.*
1. Justice League (review)- $96M
This is no good. How is a $96M domestic, $281M worldwide opening a massive failure? When that movie is Justice League, and it’s the lowest-grossing debut of Warner Bros. DC Films franchise. Think about that. It earned less than Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad, and Wonder Woman. And this is the film that combines all of DC’s top heroes into their Avengers-esque squad, it should be bigger than them all. It’s probably fair to say that many people stayed away because they don’t like director Zack Snyder or the previous films he’s done, which may explain why they came back for the movies that featured different directors. That may be the wrinkle Warner Bros. focuses on next, moving away from Snyder and letting other directors play in this sandbox. With Aquaman coming along next year directed by James Wan, it will be a good litmus test to see if Snyder is the anvil holding things back. My hope is they don’t overreact and blow everything up, because Justice League, despite poor critic reviews, has an 86% from audiences. So those who actually went out to see it had a good time, and may seek out a second viewing while spreading the word. We could see it have a leggy stint, but the threat of Pixar’s Coco looms large, Thor: Ragnarok is still hanging around, and Wonder is perhaps the best-suited movie for this holiday season. I also expect we’ll see more of an emphasis on Wonder Woman in the future, and maybe a revival of the Gotham City Sirens movie that seems to be in limbo right now, in order to tap into the powerful and influential female audience.
2. Wonder (review)- $27M
This one always looked like a no-brainer hit to me. Wonder, the new adaptation of R.J. Palacio’s beloved bestseller about a 10-year-old boy with facial deformities, just scored a huge win with $27M. The film stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay, with Stephen Chbosky (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) at the helm, and it’s perfect for this holiday season, pushing themes of kindness, forgiveness, family, and friendship. Reviews have been great, including my own, and there’s every reason to think this will be the counter-programming to Justice League. What will be interesting is to see how it fares against Coco next week, since they’ll be targeting the same audience.
3. Thor: Ragnarok– $21.7M/$247.3M
4. Daddy’s Home 2– $14.8M/$50.5M
Can someone explain to me why this cost $69M? It takes place in two locations: a house and a mall. Anyway, if it were cheaper we’d be calling it a hit, but at that price it may need help from overseas box offices.
5. Murder On the Orient Express– $13.8M/$51.7M
Get ready for more of Hercule Poirot’s mustache. Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express held well and earned $13.8M for $51M domestic. More importantly it has $148M worldwide, solid reviews, and a colorful lead character that could be the centerpiece of a franchise skewing towards adults.
6. The Star (review)- $10M
Sony’s animated nativity film, The Star, the one about talking animals celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus, opened with just $10M. It boasts an impressive array of voice talent, including Oprah Winfrey (!!!), but starry voicework doesn’t always translate to animated movie success. Fortunately, the film only cost $20M and the faith-based crowd could carry it through to Christmas.
7. A Bad Moms Christmas– $6.8M/$50.9M
8. Lady Bird– $2.5M/$4.7M
Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird continues to be a platform dynamo. The wonderful coming-of-age film added another 201 theaters and $2.5M for $4.7M overall. Word of mouth is going to keep this one going for a long time, and as it expands into wide release over the holidays I expect we’ll see an Oscars bump, too. Big things happening here.
9. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (review)- $1.1M/$1.5M
The Oscar movies continue their slow build, and one of the buzziest is Martin McDonagh’s excellent Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell dramedy about a mother who goes to unusual lengths to get the cops to investigate her daughter’s murder, has some of the year’s best reviews that should translate well when it rolls into more theaters.
10. Jigsaw– $1M/$36.4M
