Heading into the weekend, it was pretty clear which movie would win the weekend. But, I don't think anyone was counting on Bohemian Rhapsody pulling in an astounding $50 million in its opening weekend (strong $12,500 per-venue average). With adult-driven musicals seeing a resurgence at the box office as of late, plus the legions of Queen fans, the film turned out to be a stronger box office draw than anyone anticipated. It's also a much-needed win for distributor 20th Century Fox, who is preparing to be acquired by Disney. I also believe the PG-13 rating helped attract a wider audience than an R rating ever could. Rhapsody earned a strong "A" CinemaScore, and also another $73 million overseas. Look for this to potentially be a word-of-mouth hit as well. Fox predicted a mid-30's millions debut for this film, and produced the flick for $52 million.
Meanwhile, Disney had a rare misfire this weekend. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms failed to generate much excitement, as the holiday flick only managed to pull in $20 million in its second place debut (unremarkable $5,311 per-venue average). For a wide Disney release, this is their lowest debut since The BFG back in July 2016 ($19 million). Again, Disney did their best to market this solidly (if not quite as heavily as some of their other films). But, with more appealing options in theaters for kids over the coming weeks, it seemed like this one was just not in the best place on the calendar. With a moderate "B+" CinemaScore, the hope is that this will play decently through the holidays. But, with the competition coming up (Grinch, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Fantastic Beasts 2 for the older ones), that might be difficult to do. Disney was hoping for a debut around $25 million, and they produced the flick for $125 million. The film did save face overseas with a $39 million start.
Meanwhile, many believed that the combination of Tyler Perry and Tiffany Haddish would result in strong counter-programming. That didn't exactly turn out to be true, as Nobody's Fool instead landed in the middle of expectations. The R-rated comedy earned $14 million in third place (decent $5,673 per-venue average). That's half the amount that Haddish managed for her last flick, Night School ($29 million), and it's also among the lower openings of Perry's directorial career. Hmm, I wonder if the R rating held the film back from really having breakout potential. The film did earn a solid "A-" CinemaScore, though Perry's films usually don't have good staying power. Luckily for him and for distributor Paramount, the budget was a light $19 million. Analysts were predicting a debut in the mid-teens millions.Holding on surprisingly well in the midst of added competition, A Star is Born was off just 21% in its fifth weekend to $11.1 million. The well-received musical remake has earned a strong $165.6 million in one month of release, and looks well-positioned to pass $200 million by the time its' finished. Essentially tying it for fourth place was another reboot, Halloween. With the titular holiday come and gone, the Jamie Lee Curtis flick understandably plunged 65% to $11 million. That being said, Halloween has earned a strong $150.4 million in 17 days (15 times its $10 million budget), and should make its way to a $165 million finish.
Continuing to play well was Venom. The anti-hero flick was down just 26% in its sixth frame to $7.9 million, for a very good $198.7 million pick-up in 37 days. The film also has earned $540 million worldwide. Up a spot to seventh place was Smallfoot, which was unfazed by the arrival of a new PG title. The animated yeti tale was down just 20% in its seventh weekend to $3.8 million, for a decent $77.5 million gross in 42 days. It's earned meh numbers overseas also, with the worldwide gross at just under $200 million so far. Next weekend, the film will likely fall out of the list with The Grinch set to take families' attention.
With Halloween come and gone, Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween fell an understandable 49% to $3.7 million. The spookfest sequel has earned a mild $43.8 million in 24 days, and is on track for a finish near $50 million. It has earned another $40 million overseas. Following a dismal debut last week, Hunter Killer didn't quite fall apart this weekend. Gerard Butler's latest was off 47% to $3.5 million, for a still weak $13 million gross in 10 days.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its fifth weekend is The Hate U Give. The crime drama was off just 33% to $3.4 million, for a decent $23.5 million pick-up since its limited opening one month ago. It might hit $30 million before its done.
And that's about it. Next weekend, the holiday season continues with three new films. Families are looking to gobble up the new version of The Grinch from Illumination Entertainment. Adults will be given book adaptation The Girl in the Spider's Web, while horror fans will be given zombie thriller Overlord. Its' sure to be another interesting weekend. Predictions post coming on Wednesday! :)
