The holiday box office saw surges for some while older-skewing films seem to be falling behind.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi grossed an estimated $24.4 million on Friday to continue to lead the pack. It looks like it will have a $100 million+ second weekend which some saw in question due to how divisive the response to the film has been. Its domestic gross stands at $321.2 million before we head to Christmas Day.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle grossed an estimated $12.5 million on Friday and is proving to stand on its own against Star Wars. Its domestic total is now at $29.1 million and could get to that $60 million by Christmas projection if it had a particularly strong Saturday. Sony reportedly spent only $90 million on this one and it looks like the investment is going to pay off big time.
Pitch Perfect 3 is proving that its fanbase could care less about the poor review as the third film grossed an estimated $10.6 million on Friday. The film scored an “A-” CinemaScore which is what the previous three films received and it looks like it will hit $35 million by Christmas day. The film won’t be as massive as the second film but its box office will be just fine for the final installment.
Things start to get a little dire when we get to The Greatest Showman which grossed an estimated $3.1 million on Friday. The film may come in lower than my low $20 million by Christmas projection as it could be closer to $15-18 million. The film did receive an “A” CinemaScore which continues to work in its favor because those who are seeing it, seem to love it. It’s competing for the female audience with Pitch Perfect 3 and that’s a battle it’s clearly losing. I think it still could be slow burn grosser, especially since it scored some Golden Globe nominations but I think Fox was expecting much more. Its domestic gross is $7.7 million since Wednesday.
Downsizing isn’t scoring much with moviegoers as it grossed an estimated $2 million on Friday. This is a film that needed great reviews and it simply didn’t get them. The premise is very niche and may come off a bit pretentious to some so that could be why it’s stalling. With a gross like this, it won’t hit my $10-12 million Christmas Day projection and will likely be closer to about $7 million.
Lastly, Father Figures looks to be D.O.A. with an estimated $1.3 million on Friday. It actually is in ninth place right now behind Coco and Darkest Hour which means moviegoers are ignoring the R-rated comedy. The film was destroyed by critics and looks to maybe gross about $4 million by Christmas Day which makes it the lump of coal of the new releases.
Check back tomorrow as we continue to look at the holiday box office race!
