The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Photos and text from wire services beat out the “Fantastic Beasts” sequel, “Crimes of Grindelwald” ($29.7 million) which is also in weekend two.
There was little left at the table for the latest version of “Robin Hood,” starring Taron Egerton. The poorly reviewed pic from Lionsgate’s Summit Entertainment grossed only $9.1 million over the weekend and $14.2 million in its first five days in theaters against a reported production budget of nearly $100 million.
Universal’s crowd-pleaser “Green Book,” starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, expanded to 1,063 locations after a limited start and took ninth place with $5.4 million.
Peter Farrelly directed the film based on a true story of a road trip through the Jim Crow-era South. With awards buzz, good reviews and an A+ CinemaScore for the movie, Universal’s distribution chief Jim Orr said he expects it to have a long life at the domestic box office.
Another awards season movie, Fox Searchlight’s acclaimed period piece “The Favourite,” with Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Oliva Colman, opened in four locations to $420,000.
Overall, it was a remarkable Thanksgiving frame at the box office for the industry. It’s the first time ever that the total domestic box office has surpassed $300 million over the five days counted around the Thanksgiving holiday. Box office tracker Comscore is projecting a $314 million total.