After ‘The Last Jedi’
Look ahead to Episode IX, coming in two years.
On the last day of the year, Star Wars: The Last Jedi surpassed Beauty and the Beast as the top grossing film in North America in 2017. It also topped the charts for the weekend for the third time, but just barely — Dwayne Johnson’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is close on its tail.
According to studio estimates, The Last Jedi will add $68.4 million for the four-day weekend to bring its domestic total to $533.1 million. Beauty and the Beast netted $504 million for the year.
With the weekend’s earnings, The Last Jedi will cross the $1 billion mark globally — even before it opens in China on Friday.
But Star Wars is facing hefty competition from the Jumanji sequel, which took in $66.5 million in its second weekend in theaters for second place. The film has earned a stunning $185.8 million to date and could reach $300 million domestically by the end of its run.
The a cappella Pitch Perfect 3 took third place in Weekend 2, with $21 million, bringing its total to $67.5 million — still less than what Pitch Perfect 2 earned its opening weekend ($69.2 million).
The Greatest Showman, with Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, came in fourth place with $20.8 million after adding 310 screens. The animated kids film Fer- dinand took fifth with $14.6 million.
In its first weekend in theaters after opening on Christmas, Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World took in $7.5 million for a total of $14.7 million.
Another adult-targeted film, Downsizing, is struggling in theaters, taking in $6.1 million in its second weekend. That’s only $18.6 million to date against a $68 million production budget.
In limited release, Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game, starring Jessica Chastain, earned $3.2 million. And Paul Thomas Anderson’s Phantom Thread collected $295,000 from four theaters over the weekend after its Christmas opening.
“As end-of-year marketplaces go, this is a great time to be a moviegoer,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst for comScore. “There are so many movies out there, the only trick is how do you see all of them.”
The year will surpass $11 billion again, with comScore projecting $11.12 billion, down 2.3% from last year’s record-breaking grosses ($11.4 billion), and almost on par with 2015’s $11.14 billion.
“We actually had a great end-of-year surge,” Dergarabedian said. “Star Wars adding about a half-billion dollars didn’t hurt. But Star Wars didn’t do this alone. It’s not just about the big movies at the top, it’s also about the smaller movies that provided a really great foundation. Every dollar counts.”
Final figures are expected Tuesday.