1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi– $52.4M/$517.1M
In barely over two weeks, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has already hit $517M domestic, making it the top U.S. earner of the year. Did I mention it hasn’t even been three full weeks yet? Overall the middle chapter of this latest Lucasfilm trilogy has $1.04B, and it doesn’t open in China for a few days yet.
2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle– $50.5M/$169.8M
The Dwayne Johnson effect is still…well, effective. The long-awaited sequel Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle had an obscene 39% jump from last week, same number of theaters mind you, for another $50.5M. Given the box office success of its stars Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan, part of me thinks this was inevitable. But reviving long dormant properties is no sure thing. Sony played it right, balancing the Jumanji nostalgia and star power to appeal to the widest possible audience. Of course, it helps that people actually like the movie, and at this point I’m thinking maybe it’s time I go ahead and buy a ticket.
3. Pitch Perfect 3– $17.7M/$64.2M
Pitch Perfect 3 kept on singing in its second week, falling only 10% and earning $17.7M. It’s creeping up on $100M worldwide which is a pretty good way to say goodbye to the Bella gals.
4. The Greatest Showman– $15.2M/$48.7M
Hugh Jackman’s P.T. Barnum musical The Greatest Showman may have just pulled its greatest trick. The film jumped a massive 73% after a modest debut, earning $15M and bringing the domestic total to $48M. That is a record-breaking hold for a movie in over 3000 theaters, and one of the best holds period for a major wide release. So right now its prospects are looking pretty good, especially if overseas numbers come through. If only it hadn’t been so darn expensive.
5. Ferdinand– $11.6M/$53.8M
6. Coco– $6.5M/$178.9M
7. All the Money in the World (review)- $5.4M/$12.6M
There has been so much talk surrounding Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World, about Kevin Spacey, about the reshoots that replaced him with Christopher Plummer, to the speed in which those reshoots took place, that we forgot it actually has to perform. To that end, the film opened with a modest $12.6M since the Wednesday debut. The $50M kidnapping drama should get a nice Oscar boost as Plummer and Michelle Williams are at least in the hunt, but let’s hope all of the Spacey stuff isn’t keeping people away.
8. Darkest Hour– $5.2M/$17.9M
9. Downsizing- $4.6M/$17M
Alexander Payne’s sci-fi “comedy”(?) Downsizing is staying on the small-ish side with $4.6M and $17M overall. That’s not great, and with a cost of roughly $68M I’m not sure Matt Damon’s name will be enough to save it.
10. Father Figures– $3.7M/$12.7M
Speaking of movies that big name can’t save, the apparently-dreadful Father Figures is a dud with only $12M in two weeks. It won’t go up much further from there.
Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut Molly’s Game (review) opened strong, earning $5.2M while only in 217 theaters. I’m curious to see if the Jessica Chastain-led drama can pick up some Oscar buzz and ride the wave to bigger numbers.
Daniel Day-Lewis’s “final” film, P.T. Anderon’s critically-acclaimed Phantom Thread (review), hit $531K in only 4 locations. A much broader expansion doesn’t happen for two weeks which is when we’ll really get a sense of how the film does.
And finally, Annette Bening’s latest bid for an Oscar, the Gloria Grahame biopic Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (review), opened in 4 locations and earned $36K. This one may prove too under the radar for Bening to get her usual amount of awards attention, but she’s really good as the Oscar winner and Hollywood Walk of Famer.
