Martin Luther King Weekend Box Office: "Jumanji" Once Again Tops, "The Post" Strong in Second, Other Newcomers Fail to Impress.

I apologize for no predictions post this past week. Things got unexpectedly busy the latter half of last week.

Overall business for the 4-day weekend was up 6% from last year, when Hidden Figures and Sing easily remained on top while La La Land took a close third place its nationwide expansion.


As what many anticipated, teens and families continued to flock to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Sony's smash hit remake continued to play well, off just 25% over the three-day weekend to $28.1 million ($35.2 million including Monday). In 26 days, the film has earned an astounding $291.3 million stateside, with plenty more to go. In fact, at this rate, Jumanji looks set to finish above Spider-Man: Homecoming ($334 million) for the 5th-biggest movie released in 2017. How it holds from here, with breaks all over for kids and college students, is anyone's guess. But, Sony still is by all means thrilled with how successful this has been. Jumanji also opened huge in China ($40 million) and has earned $670 million worldwide in just under a month of play.







Out of all four nationwide releases, the biggest one of the bunch was the awards season contender. Steven Spielberg's political thriller The Post managed a strong $19.4 million over the three-day weekend ($6,868 per-venue average, and $23.1 million including Monday). After starting off to strong results in limited release last month, Post easily took advantage of its strong reviews, as well as the starpower of Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. As far as Spielberg is concerned, this is a stronger debut than 2015's Bridge of Spies ($15 million, but that didn't open over an extended weekend). Now, expectations were lowered somewhat after the film went 0 for 6 at the Golden Globes last week as well as the idea that films that are aimed for older audiences usually start slower (but hold on strong). Reviews were strong (88% on Rotten Tomatoes), Oscar potential looks very good, and the CinemaScore was an "A". So, all signs point to a very solid run over the next month or so.




Meanwhile, in a distant third (for the three-day weekend), Liam Neeson debuted his latest action thriller, The Commuter. The Jamue Collet-Serra film opened a little ahead of its' modest expectations, pulling in $13.7 million over the-three day weekend (mild $4,738 per-venue average, $15.8 million four-day stretch). In comparison, that's a little better than Neeson/Serra's last collaboration Run All Night ($11 million debut), but only half of 2014's Non-Stop ($29 million opening weekend). The budget was not announced, but Lionsgate acquired the film for U.S. release for $30 million. Whether or not it will play well over the coming weeks will be hampered by mixed reviews (54% on Rotten Tomatoes, "B" CinemaScore).







Audiences continued to spread strong word-of-mouth for The Greatest Showman, which remained in fourth place for the fourth-straight weekend (and actually jumped up to third place for the extended frame). The crowd-pleasing musical was off just 10% to $12.5 million over the three-day stretch ($16.2 million including Monday), for a good $98.9 million pick-up in 26 days. The Hugh Jackman flick will pass $100 million this week, and could finish ahead of another well-liked live-action musical, Enchanted ($130 million). Overseas, its' slowly gaining momentum, with $200 million worldwide so far.

Following its' strong debut last weekend, Insidious: The Last Key plunged 58% to $12.4 million over the three-day ($14.4 million including Monday), a typical drop for a horror flick. The fourth installment in the horror franchise has earned $50.6 million in 11 days, and is about to pass the final grosses of the first Insidious ($54 million) and Chapter 3 ($52 million). How rare is it for a fourth installment to pass its' predecessors? I mean, really?

Star Wars: The Last Jedi continued to slide quickly, thanks to apparent mixed audience reception. The blockbuster fell another 50% to $11.9 million ($14.6 million including Monday). However, its' still doing undeniably massive business, with $594.9 million earned in one month of release. Jedi currently sits in sixth place on the all-time chart domestically, and will look to challenge The Avengers ($623 million) for fifth place by the time its' done. Worldwide, its' in 10th place, passing Beauty and the Beast (2017) with $1.27 billion so far, and about to pass Frozen ($1.276 billion) for ninth place.

With all the different holdover options for kids of all ages, it might would not have been unreasonable to guess that Paddington 2 would get a little lost in the mix. Despite a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes critics score, the family sequel managed to earn just $11 million over the three-day stretch in seventh place (weak $2,972 per-venue average, though it did jump up to fifth place over the four-day stretch with $15 million including Monday). Expectations were for the film to open north of $20 million for the four days (though new distriubtor Warner Bros., who acquired the film from the controversy-ridden Weinstein Company, expected a high-teens millions debut). The first Paddington earned $25.5 million over this same extended weekend back in 2015. With strong critical reception and an "A" CinemaScore, the sequel will look to no family competition until mid-February for help making up ground. However, the film has played strong overseas, with $140 million picked up in foreign countries (though Warner Bros. won't benefit from that, unfortunately).


Faring worse, however, was Taraji P. Henson's action flick, Proud Mary. The R-rated flick opened below expectations also in eighth place, with $10 million over the three-day stretch (mild $4,687 per-venue average from a lower theater count, and $11.7 million including Monday). For Henson, that's half of what Hidden Figures debuted to last year (though that film was much different and had awards season buzz behind it). It's possible that opening directly against another action film (The Commuter) and the crowded marketplace in general really hurt this one's chances. Reviews were atrocious (24% on Rotten Tomatoes) while the CinemaScore was a "B+". Look for this one to probably fade quick.

Pitch Perfect 3 continued playing, off 42% over the three-day to $6 million ($7.3 million 4-day), for an OK $96.3 million gross in 25 days. The final Bellas installment will likely make their final bow at around $110 million. Darkest Hour rounded out the Top 10, off 26% over the three-day to $4.5 million ($5.4 million 4-day), for a solid $36.6 million pick-up since its' limited debut eight weeks ago. If it gets some Oscar nominations next week, the final gross could approach $50 million stateside.

That's about it. Next weekend's predictions post will be made and up tomorrow (I'll get to writing it right now).