‘Coco’ tops box office again before ‘Star Wars’ hits

LOS ANGELES — The animated family film “Coco” topped the box office for a third time on a quiet, preStar Wars weekend.

Disney estimated Sunday that “Coco” added $18.3 million, which would bring its domestic total to $135.5 million.

The weekend’s sole new wide release was the Morgan Freeman film “Just Getting Started,” launched to a meager $3.2 million from 2,161 theaters.

Most studios have chosen to avoid competing against “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” expected to dominate when it opens on Dec. 15.

“Justice League” took second place with $9.6 million and Lionsgate’s sleeper hit “Wonder” placed third with $8.5million. Some of the indie and prestige titles thrived in limited releases and expansions, like James Franco’s “The Disaster Artist,” about the making of one of the worst films of all time, “The Room.”

Greta Gerwig’s coming-of-age film “Lady Bird” also added 363 locations and placed ninth in its sixth weekend.

The Guillermo del Toro-directed romantic fantasy “The Shape of Water” expanded to 41 theaters in its second weekend and earned $1.1 million.

The Tonya Harding biopic “I, Tonya” launched in four locations in New York and Los Angeles and brought in a solid $245,602.

The “The Darkest Hour,” staring stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, and the summer romance film “Call Me By Your Name,” with Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet, continue to thrive.

“It’s great time for those films ahead of the box office death star that is ‘Star Wars,’ ” said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.