Jedi, Jumanji hold top two spots
Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi is giving movietheater chains a new hope for 2018.
Disney’s latest chapter in the Star Wars saga became the year’s No. 1-grossing movie after generating about $67 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the four-day holiday weekend, said researcher ComScore Inc. The film’s domestic total of $531 million for 2017 topped the $504 million tallied by the previous No. 1, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Worldwide, it has pulled in at least $1.04 billion.
The success of Jedi, combined with a surprising twoweek run from Columbia’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, is encouraging for Hollywood, which has been through a brutal year of big-budget bombs and competitive threats. The box office in the United States, the world’s biggest movie market, finished the year down 2.4 percent to $11.2 billion, but the latest hits prove it’s possible to lure viewers away from their Netflix accounts.
Columbia has shown some moxie with Jumanji, a remake of the 1995 Robin Williams fantasy. In its second weekend in theaters, where The Last Jedi is playing on multiple screens in many locations, the action-comedy starring Dwayne Johnson generated $66.3 million over the fourday holiday break, according to ComScore.
Universal’s Pitch Perfect 3 lands at No. 3. The latest a cappella adventure of the Bellas earned about $22 million, bringing the film’s cumulative gross to $68 million in its second weekend of release. In comparison, Pitch Perfect 2 earned $69.2 million during its opening weekend in 2015.
Fox’s The Greatest Showman is holding strong at No. 4 at the box office, grossing more over the New Year’s holiday than it did in its first weekend of release. The tale of P.T. Barnum starring Hugh Jackman grossed about $21 million through Monday.
Fox’s Ferdinand held steady in its third weekend of release, earning about $15 million Friday through Monday, good enough for a top five finish at the box office.
Coco, the latest offering from Disney’s Pixar, continues to score at home and abroad. Landing at No. 6 at the weekend box office, the film earned about $10 million in its sixth week of release, bringing its domestic cumulative gross to $182 million.
All the Money in the World landed at No. 7 in its first full weekend of release. The true story of the kidnapping of J. Paul Getty’s grandson opened Christmas Day and earned $7.2 million Friday through Monday. The Columbia picture starring Christopher Plummer as a late substitute for a role Kevin Spacey had already filmed has grossed $14.3 million.
Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill continues to perform. Focus Features’ Darkest Hour added about $7 million to its box office gross through Monday, bringing its domestic cumulative gross to about $20 million in its fifth weekend of release.
Paramount’s quirky comedy Downsizing, centered around shrinking humans to combat overpopulation, continues to have undersized boxoffice earnings. Directed by Alexander Payne and starring Matt Damon, the film earned $6.2 million through Monday in its second week of release. Downsizing has cumulatively grossed about $19 million.