‘Coco’ works box-office magic for 3rd straight week ahead of ‘Star Wars’
In advance of the highly anticipated “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” opening Friday, the weekend’s box office remained virtually unchanged, with Disney’s “Coco” maintaining the top spot for the third weekend in a row.
Despite losing 239 locations, “Coco” raked in an estimated $18.3 million, a relatively small decline of 34 percent, for a cumulative gross of $135.5 million, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore.
Only three other films have maintained a box office hold for three consecutive weeks in 2017: “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” (which reigned over a sleepy August box office), “The Fate of the Furious” and “Split.”
Also unchanged, Warner Bros.’ “Justice League” came in second place again, earning $9.6 million, a 42 percent drop, for a cumulative gross of $212 million.
Now in its fourth week, the latest effort from DC Comics earned mixed reviews, with a B-plus rating on CinemaScore and a 40 percent “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. After coming in soft and failing to recoup the estimated $300 million it cost to make the film, Jon Berg, the Warner Bros. film executive in charge of production on the studio’s DC superhero films, is stepping down. The next live-action DC film on the Warner Bros. schedule is “Aquaman,” set for a December 2018 release.
Lionsgate’s “Wonder” maintained the No. 3 spot, surpassing $100 million and becoming the studio’s highest-grossing film since “La La Land.”
The film brought in an additional $8.5 million in its fourth week, only a 30 percent decline, for a cumulative average of $100.3 million. Produced by Lionsgate, Participant Media, Walden Media and Mandeville Films for $20 million, the film stars Jacob Tremblay (“Room”) and Julia Roberts.
It’s been a good week for A24 with two films that have been generating Oscar buzz ranking among the top 10: “Lady Bird” maintained its hold despite dropping two spots to No. 9 after six weeks in theaters, and comedy “The Disaster Artist” rose to No. 4 after expanding nationally into 840 theaters from just 19.
Now in its second week, “The Disaster Artist,” which chronicles the making of Tommy Wiseau’s cultclassic “The Room,” earned $6.4 million, a 431 percent increase, for a cumulative $8 million in earnings.
The film’s success — paired with that of “Wonder,” “Lady Bird,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” “The Shape of Water” and “Call Me by Your Name” — disproves the notion that Oscar contenders generally don’t perform well at the box office and marks a particularly auspicious year for indie films (while several big-budget blockbusters have disappointed).
Directed by and starring James Franco, “The Disaster Artist” earned a 95 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Dave Franco and Seth Rogen also star.
Rounding out the top five was Disney’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” now in its sixth week, which made $6.3 million this past weekend, a 36 percent decline, for a cumulative $301 million in earnings.
The only wide release to debut this week, Broad Green Pictures’ action comedy “Just Getting Started,” premiered at No. 10 and earned $3.2 million.
The film, which reviewer Kimber Myers said “lacks precision in every aspect but its on-the-nose dialogue” earned bad reviews across the board with a C-rating on CinemaScore and a 9 percent “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Ron Shelton (“Bill Durham”), it stars Tommy Lee Jones, Morgan Freeman, Rene Russo and George Wallace.
In limited release, Fox Searchlight’s Oscar-bait “The Shape of Water,” now in its second weekend, added 39 theaters and brought in $1.1 million, an impressive perscreen average of $26,829, for a cumulative total of $1.3 million.
Directed by Guillermo del Toro, the film stars Sally Hawkins as a mute cleaning lady working in a high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. “The Shape of Water,” which earned a 95 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, took the most honors at the previous weekend’s Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards.
Sony Classics’ “Call Me by Your Name,” also in its third weekend, earned $291,101 across nine locations for a strong per-screen average of $32,345 and a cumulative gross of $1.4 million. Starring Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet and directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film was voted best picture at the L.A. Film Critics Association Awards.
Neon and 30WEST opened the Margot Robbie-led “I, Tonya” in four theaters this past weekend with $245,602 (a killer per-theater average of $61,400). The true story of American figure skater Tonya Harding, the film chronicles one of the biggest scandals in sports history and earned a 90 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
In its third weekend, Focus Features’ “Darkest Hour” expanded into 53 theaters and added $777,000 to its earnings for a per-screen average of $14,664 and a cumulative gross of $1.2 million. The film stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill as he attempts to unite Britain in the fight against Nazi Germany as Hitler’s army rampages across Europe in 1940. John Hurt, Ben Mendelsohn and Lily James also star.
Next week, Fox premieres animation “Ferdinand” and Disney debuts the highly anticipated “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Magnolia Pictures opens the comedy “Permanent” in limited release.