There were a few surprises at the weekend box office with Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle jumping over Star Wars: The Last Jedi to lead the pack and Insidious: The Last Key outperforming box office tracking. The post-holiday frame can usually lead to significant tumbles but a lot of the holiday offerings held strong and with a four day weekend on the horizon, there is at least one more weekend for them to post strong numbers.
With an estimated $36 million, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle finished #1 at the weekend box office for the first time since it was released on December 20. With a domestic gross that now stands at $244.3 million, the film becomes the highest grossing live-action release of all-time for star Kevin Hart and is the second largest live-action release for Dwayne Johnson. That honor belongs to Furious 7 which grossed a massive $353 million at the domestic box office. The road to $300 million is now in Jumanji’s sights and this is something I don’t think any of us saw coming. The $90 million film brings its worldwide total to $514 million.
In second place we don’t find Star Wars: The Last Jedi as I predicted but we see an impressive $29.26 million for Insidious: The Last Key. The horror film delivered the second largest debut of the franchise, topping the third chapter by over $7 million. It’s also the ninth largest opening for a Blumhouse Production, just topping the $29 million opening for Paranormal Activity 4. The micro-budgeted horror franchise has now cleared $400 million at the worldwide box office. The film received a “B” CinemaScore which is good for horror and while it will likely see the typical steep horror decline in weekend 2, it has already turned a profit as it only cost $10 million to make.
Finishing third, Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi delivered an estimated $23.5 million, pushing the film’s domestic total to $572.5 million. It remains the sixth largest domestic release of all-time and won’t challenge for a spot in the top five until it can top The Avengers’ $623 million performance from 2012. I thought it had enough momentum to reach that goal but it’s slowing down a little faster than I anticipated. Internationally, the film added another $64.7 million for an international gross totaling $632.7 million and a worldwide gross over $1.2 billion.
Fox’s The Greatest Showman continues to hold strong, dropping just 11% this weekend for a third-place finish with an estimated $13.8 million. The film has a total gross of $75.9 million so far and despite a slower start as we entered the holiday box office, significant word of mouth has allowed the film to rebound in a big way. The film is now looking at a $100+ million domestic performance which seemed out of reach when the film began its run. Internationally, the film added another $24 million this weekend from 74 markets bringing its international gross just shy of $75 million for a global tally topping $150 million. Will the film get any love at the Oscars? It’s doubtful but a Best Original Song nomination seems likely for “This Is Me”. Usually, films like this need awards push to boost grosses but I think audiences are seeing something special here that maybe the critics didn’t see.
Rounding out the top five is Pitch Perfect 3 with an estimated $10.2 million. The domestic gross now totals $85.9 million. The film needed this hold to ensure it would cross $100 million and now it’s a lock for that finish. Internationally the film brought in another $18.1 million this weekend for an international total reaching $55 million and a $141 million global tally. Naysayers will say this is a disappointment considering how much the sequel grossed but this is a franchise that has grossed over $500 million worldwide and the third film has exceeded its budget significantly. Universal isn’t upset over this one.
Finishing outside the top 5 was our other expanding wide release, Molly’s Game. The film grossed an estimated $7 million, which is right where box office tracking had it. The film benefits from strong critical reviews and just last week received PGA, WGA and ACE nominations and were among the nominees at last night’s Golden Globe Awards with two nominations. Molly’s Game’s domestic total currently stands at $14.2 million after 14 days in release.
Check out the full top ten results below:
1. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle – $36 million (-28.1%, $244.3 million)
2. Insidious: The Last Key – $29.2 million (NEW)
3. Star Wars: The Last Jedi – $23.5 million (-55.2%, $572.5 million)
4. The Greatest Showman – $13.8 million (-11.1%, $75.9 million)
5. Pitch Perfect 3 – $10.2 million (-39.2%, $85.9 million)
6. Ferdinand – $7.7 million (-32.1%, $70.4 million)
7. Molly’s Game – $7 million (NEW)
8. Darkest Hour – $6.3 million (+15.8%, $28.3 million)
9. Coco – $5.5 million (-25.8%, $192 million)
10. All The Money In The World – $3.5 million (-36.4%, $20.1 million)
