The Post surges to second place

The Post registered a 10-fold increase in weekend box-office sales over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, with the awards contender from 21st Century Fox Inc. out- drawing three new releases. The drama about the Pentagon Papers generated $18.6 million (U.S.) in revenue from North American theatres over the first three days of the long weekend, researcher ComScore Inc. estimated in an email Sunday. Coming in second, it placed ahead of Paddington 2, Proud Mary and The Commuter. Sony Corp.’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle retained the top spot with $27 million.

Fox expanded screenings of Steven Spielberg’s film about the Washington Post’s battle over First Amendment rights to more theatres to ex- ploit publicity from last weekend’s Golden Globe Awards. The movie features Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks as publisher Katharine Graham and executive editor Ben Bradlee. It was nominated for five Golden Globes, but didn’t win any.

Jumanji opened in China in first place, with weekend sales of $40 million. That topped Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s recent $28.7 million debut weekend in the country, currently the world’s No. 2 movie market. 1. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, $27 million 2. The Post, $18.6 million 3. The Commuter, $13.4 million 4. Insidious: The Last Key, $12.1 million 5. The Greatest Showman, $11.8 million 6. Star Wars: The Last Jedi, $11.2 million 7. Paddington 2, $10.6 million 8. Proud Mary, $10 million 9. Pitch Perfect 3, $5.6 million 10. Darkest Hour, $4.5 million Star Wire Services