Weekend Box Office Results: 1917 Outpaces Skywalker With $36.5 Million Wide Opening <

(Photo by ? Universal)
War was the leader in this week’s box office,?from WWI awards hopeful?1917?to the intergalactic warfare of?Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Backed by extensive advertising and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awarding it top honors?at the, it was a solid start for Sam Mendes’ latest on the eve of Oscar nominations Monday morning. Could a slew of nominations keep the movie racing along in the weeks ahead?Golden Globes
King of the Crop:?1917?Tops the Weekend with $36.5 Million, Has More Than One Shot at $100 Million
, the “one-take” adventure film set during the first World War, earned a solid $36.5 million over the weekend. After two weeks of limited release?during which it earned $2.7 million, that number puts it in the range of other military pictures that opened in the same period. In 2001, Ridley Scott’sopened in limited release on December 28 and then, after grossing $1.84 million in three weeks of release in no more than 16 theaters, it opened wide in January to $28.61 million (and $33.62 million over MLK weekend). Kathryn Bigelow’salso did three weeks of limited release in 2012, grossing $5.48 million before opening to $24.43 million. Peter Berg’sdid two weeks of limited release in a pair of theaters, grossing just $326,685, before exploding with a $37.84 million wide launch. Of course, the king of them all, Clint Eastwood’s, did three weeks in four theaters (grossing $3.42 million) and then had the highest January weekend of all time with $89.26 million and $107.21 million over the MLK holiday.1917Black Hawk DownZero Dark ThirtyLone SurvivorAmerican Sniper
Zero Dark Thirtywas the lowest-grossing of them all overall with $95.72 million total, while the others?all made more than $100 million andSnipermade over $350 million. So, $30 million-plus openings in January do not guarantee a $100 million-plus total.?(Though, with the exception of the disastrous word-of-mouth ofThe Devil Inside, the $80 million?Cloverfield?earned is really the lowest one should expect.) As previously mentioned,1917is likely to see a bevy of Oscar nominations on Monday – the bulk of which in the technical categories, but it would be a real surprise to not see the film and Mendes pick up Picture and Director nods. Doing a little reverse engineering, no Best Picture nominee with a $30 million-plus wide launch has ever failed to reach $100 million.
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(Photo by ? Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. )
finished production in 2017 and is just?now making its appearance in theaters. Amongst all the new wide launches this weekend, it finished last with a paltry $7 million. The production, with a budget reported to be anywhere between $50 million and $80 million, is the latest in a string of?disappointments for Fox, including the $100 million Certified Fresh animated feature?(which just crossed $115 million worldwide),, and even, which even with over $211 million globally is still chasing its own large budget. The studio has only had one film (the faith-basedBreakthrough) enter profit status in its theatrical run since 2018’s mega-hitBohemian Rhapsody.UnderwaterSpies in DisguiseAd AstraFord v Ferrari
Underwater, which was reasonably well reviewed – it’s at 53% on the Tomatometer –?marks a second misfire for a Kristen Stewart vehicle after November’sCharlie’s Angels, and is the second week in a row during which horror audiences mostly ignored one of its own. Sony’sdropped straight out of the top 10 in its second week, falling 69% to $3.5 million for a total of just $17.9 million. That puts its word-of-mouth multiple in line with other attempted reboots likeConan the Barbarian, Blair Witch, Rings,?last year’sHellboyand, again,Charlie’s Angels, though its budget loss is not nearly as large as the oneUnderwateris looking at.The Grudge
The Top 10 and Beyond:?Rise of Skywalker Near?$1 Billion,?Just Mercy?Doing Just OK For Now
Here we are on Day 24 ofand with $478.16 million?it is now the?ninth-highest–grossing film ever in that period domestically, just ahead ofRogue One’s $477.36 million. However, that order may change quickly asRoguehad a $22.06 million fourth weekend on the first January weekend of 2017;?ROScomes in with just $15 million, which is also less than the $26.11 million ofThe Dark Knightand the $20.20 million of 2019’sThe Lion Kingin the same frame. That suggests a final gross coming in around the $520 million range, possibly a full $100 million less thanThe Last Jedimade. While the numbers may pale compared to its recent Star Wars predecessors (sansSolo, of course), this weekRiseis going to become just the 15th?film ever to gross a half-billion domestically and the 46th?film to gross over $1 billion worldwide.The Rise of Skywalker
The film that has just beatenThe Last Jedion the all-time global box office chart?is Disney’s. It has now earned?$1.371 billion, passingEpisode VIIIas well as the final Harry Potter film andBlack Pantherto become the 11th-highest–grossing film of all time. It needs just $31.5 million to enter the top 10. Also still chugging along iswith another $14 million this weekend bringing its 31-day total to $257 million, the 10th-best for a December release in that timeframe. It has grossed $632 million worldwide. Doing well for Sony too is Greta Gerwig’s, also on the eve of what should be several Oscar nominations. The film may be neck-and-neck with the 2014 version of the musicalAnnieafter 19 days ($73.7 million), but that film had a big drop-off after the holidays and stalled with just $85.9 million.Little Womenwill get an Oscar bump this week that should propel it to $100-plus million.Frozen IIJumanji: The Next Level,Little Women
The two other newbies ran neck-and-neck over the weekend. The expansion of Destin Daniel Cretton’snetted an OK $10 million in 2,375 theaters, which is more thanUncut Gemsmade in its third-week expansion ($9.57 million in 2,348 theaters).may have dropped out of the top 10 already, but it is only about $5 million away from becoming A24’s top domestic grosser ever, replacing’s $48.95 million.Mercywas also beaten by the Tiffany Haddish/Rose Byrne comedy,, which also opened to an estimated $10 million, a not-so-great start for the $29 million production from Paramount. The film has a current Tomatometer score of 22%. Ending on a positive note, we turn to the ongoing strength of Rian Johnson’s, which is over $265 million worldwide and is going to pass Quentin Tarantino’sOnce Upon a Time In Hollywooddomestically this week to become the second-highest–grossing original film of 2019 behind Jordan Peele’s?Us.Just MercyUncut GemsLady BirdLike a BossKnives Out
This Time Last Year:?The Upside?Lands First Big Surprise of 2019
One of the big surprises of 2019 opened at number 1 on this weekend., which STX Films acquired from the Weinstein Company, started with $20.35 million on its journey to over $108 million.finished third with $11.25 million, and one of the worst-reviewed films of the year, the delayed Keanu Reeves sci-fi cloning thriller,, opened in 13th with just $2.37 million. Rounding out the top five wereAquaman?in second with $17.35 million,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versein fourth with $9.05 million, andEscape Roomin fifth with $8.92 million.Mary Poppins Returnscrossed $150 million in sixth place. The top 10 films grossed $96.77 million and averaged 69.4% on the Tomatometer; this year’s?top 10 grossed an estimated $116.8 million and averaged 71.5% with critics.The UpsideA Dog’s Way HomeReplicas
On the Vine:?Bad Boys?and?Dolittle?Set For a ShowdownTwo big event films are looking to take the box office back from the leftovers of 2019. The smart money is on, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence?reuniting for the first time since 2003, only without Michael Bay at the helm. Then, Universal is hoping to avoid another disastrous special effects-laden animal movie in less than a month; ifcan open to more than whatCatshas grossed to date ($26.35 million) that will at least be something. But it will have a lot more to recoup given its inflated $175 million budget and we could be looking at the first big disappointment of 2020.Bad Boys for LifeDolittle
The Full Top 10:?January 10-12
(2020)90%–?$36.5 million ($39.22 million total)
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker(2019)53%– $15.06 million ($478.17 million total)
Jumanji: The Next Level(2019)71%– $14 million ($257.12 million total)
Like a Boss(2020)20%– $10 million ($10 million total)
Just Mercy(2020)83%– $10 million ($10.44 million total)
Little Women(2019)95%– $7.66 million ($74.03 million total)
Underwater(2020)52%– $7 million ($7 million total)
Frozen II(2019)77%– $5.76 million ($459.49 million total)
Knives Out(2019)97%– $5.73 million ($139.62 million total)
Spies in Disguise(2019)75%– $5.11 million ($54.62 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office onwith Nick Digilio as well as onwith Angela Miles and his.WGN RadioBusiness First AMMovie Madness Podcast
[box office figures via]Box Office Mojo
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