‘Jumanji’ bounds out of the jungle to roar past ‘Last Jedi’
LOS ANGELES: Sony’s ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ handily won the first box office weekend of 2018 over the launch of ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ and ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ with US$36 million at 3,801 North American locations.
The fourth instalment of the ‘Insidious’ horror franchise scared up a surprisingly strong US$29.3 million at 3,116 sites for Universal. Disney-Lucasfilm’s ‘The Last Jedi’ followed in third with a 55% decline to US$23.6 million at 4,232 venues for a 24day total of US$572.5 million -the sixth-largest of all-time.
Fox’s third weekend of ‘The Greatest Showman’ held nicely in fourth, declining only 12% to US$13.6 million at 3,342 theatres for a 19-day total of about US$77 million. It was followed in fifth by Universal’s third session of ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ with US$10.2 million at 3,458 sites, lifting its 17-day take to a solid US$86 million.
Fox’s fourth weekend of animated comedy ‘Ferdinand’ finished sixth with US$7.7 million at 3,156 venues, followed by Jessica Chastain’s ‘Molly’s Game’ from STXfilms, which brought in US$7 million after expanding to 1,608 sites from 271. Chastain received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a drama for her work in the film -- whether or not she wins will be determined Sunday. The film also received a Producers Guild Award nomination on Friday for best film, a day after Aaron Sorkin’s script received a Writers Guild nom for adapted screenplay.
The ‘Jumanji’ sequel has taken in US$244.4 million in its first 19 days domestically. It’s the first weekend box office win for ‘Jumanji’ -- which has gone past ‘Justice League’ as the ninthlargest domestic grosser among 2017 titles. ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ is also topping the US$500 million mark worldwide.
Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan star in ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’, a sequel to Robin Williams’ original, which was a 1995 hit with US$262 million worldwide. ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ follows four high schoolers in detention who wind up as video game characters facing an array of challenges.
‘Insidious: The Last Key’ came in far above expectations, which had been in the US$16 million to US$19 million range. It’s the latest horror title from Blumhouse Productions, which delivered low-cost horror hits last year for Universal with ‘Split’, ‘Get Out’, and ‘Happy Death Day’. The franchise dates back to 2010 with ‘Insidious’, followed by ‘Insidious: Chapter 2’ in 2013 and ‘Insidious: Chapter 3’ in 2015 -- which have grossed a collective US$357 million worldwide.
Lin Shaye, who has starred in all three films, returns in ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ as a parapsychologist whose haunted childhood comes to threaten her family and home in a follow-up to the events in ‘Insidious: Chapter 3’. It’s produced by ‘Insidious’ regulars Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and co-creator James Wan and by Sony Pictures (through Stage 6 Films) with Blumhouse. Universal is the US theatrical distributor with Sony releasing in the rest of the world. Overall domestic business was up 18.1% to US$165 million, according to comScore - a welcome sign after 2017 saw a 2.3% decline in total grosses.
“2018 is off to a rollicking start with ‘Jumanji’s’ unexpected strength boosting the overall marketplace nearly 20% ahead of the comparable weekend a year ago as the box office new year gives the industry cause to celebrate with an incredibly diverse lineup of titles driving patrons to theatres and a red hot awards season in full swing,” noted Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore. “Two years ago was not even as strong with a ‘Force Awakens’ driven marketplace ringing up sales of US$159.1 million for the same weekend in 2016.” — Reuters