‘Coco’ continues to draw crowds
Disney’s animated hit suffers only a slight decline, but ‘The Last Jedi’ will arrive Friday.
Disney’s animated movie wins a third straight week.
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%, 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.”
Senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian credits a slow marketplace for “Coco’s” longstanding reign.
“For a movie like ‘Coco’ to remain number one after three weeks shows that there hasn’t really been a big newcomer — until ‘The Last Jedi’ later this week,” he said. “There’s an incredible array of films that have really benefited from a fairly quiet marketplace over the past couple of weeks.”
Also unchanged, Warner Bros.’ “Justice League” came in second place again, earning $9.6 million, a 42% 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+ rating on CinemaScore and a 40% “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% decline, for a cumulative average of $100.3 million.
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.
Piggybacking off the success of the studio’s best picture win for “Moonlight” this year, A24 is one to watch in the upcoming awards season deliberations, starting with the announcement of Golden Globe nominees Monday morning. The studio’s critically acclaimed “The Florida Project” is also generating awards buzz.
Now in its second week, “The Disaster Artist,” which chronicles the making of Tommy Wiseau’s cult classic “The Room,” earned $6.4 million, a 431% increase, for a cumulative $8 million in earnings.
Directed by and starring James Franco, “The Disaster Artist” earned a 95% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.