The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Ralph’ repeats as No. 1; ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ flops in China
On a typically sleepy post-Thanksgiving weekend in movie theaters, leftovers led the box office with Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet” repeating as No. 1 with $25.8 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The “Wreck-It Ralph” sequel dropped steeply (54 percent) after nearly setting a Thanksgiving record last weekend. But with only one new film in wide release, nothing came close to “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” which sends John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman’s video-game characters into cyberspace. In 11 days of release, the $175 million film has cleared $207 million worldwide.
Still going strong in its fourth week of release, Universal’s “The Grinch” came in second with $17.7 million in ticket sales. “The Grinch,” the Illumination animated production with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Christmas curmudgeon, surpassed $200 million domestically and edged in front of last week’s No. 2 film, the “Rocky” sequel “Creed II.”
Like “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” MGM’s boxing drama also slid sizably after a big holiday opening, declining 53 percent. “Creed II,” with Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed, took in $16.8 million in its second weekend. It has thus far grossed $81.2 million on a $50 million budget.
The week’s lone new wide release, the Sony Screen Gems horror film “The Possession of Hannah Grace,” opened modestly with $6.5 million. Orion Picture’s “Anna and the Apocalypse,” a wellreviewed indie mash-up — your standard zombie-comedy-musical — debuted in five theaters, with about $50,000 in ticket sales.
“Crazy Rich Asians,” Warner Bros.’ breakout summer hit, was a dud in China. Warner Bros. said the acclaimed romantic comedy, which earned $173 million domestically, debuted in China with just $1.2 million. John M. Chu’s Singapore-set film, which opened Aug. 14 in the U.S., took months to secure a release date in China, a delay some have attributed to the film’s depiction of extremely wealthy Chinese Singaporeans.
“Crazy Rich Asians” was a hit at the Singapore box office, but, like most comedies, it hasn’t been as much a sensation abroad as it was in the U.S.; it’s earned $64 million overseas. The film’s performance in China, though, is potentially worrisome for Warner Bros. Its planned sequel, “China Rich Girlfriend,” aims to better capitalize on the world’s second largest film market.
One film that didn’t dip much on the weekend was Universal’s “Green Book,” which grossed $3.9 million on 1,065 screens, dropping 29 percent. The uplifting 1962 road trip drama, starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, has struggled to match Oscar buzz with box office. But last week, “Green Book” was named best film of the year by the National Board of Review, and Universal is hoping it holds strongly in the coming weeks.
“Free Solo” became the year’s fourth documentary to cross $10 million. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s documentary about Alex Honnold’s ropeless ascent of Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan rock face, has joined the most lucrative batch of documentaries ever released in a year: “Three Identical Strangers,” “RBG” and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”