It’s a little tricky to gauge box office performance with so many holidays going on, especially with Christmas falling on a Wednesday. One thing that is clear is that ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ had the second-best showing on a Christmas Day ever, taking in $32M on that day. Its three-day total for Fri-Sun was $72M, and its five-day total, for Christmas-Sunday was $134.75M. Its domestic take stands at $362.6M. Globally, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ has reached $724.8M. Both globally and domestically, ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ is holding up better than ‘The Last Jedi’ at the same point in its release.
Thanks in part to this movie’s performance, the global box office has crossed the $11 billion mark for the year.
Sony is hanging tough in the face of Disney domination. (In addition to ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, ‘Frozen 2’ is still chugging right along.) ‘Jumanji: The Next Level‘ is still leveling up, and actually performed better than it did last weekend, earning $35.3M over three days and $59M over five. It looks as though this movie is following the pattern of the first, which was a word-of-mouth success, with happy audiences telling their friends and family to check it out. With the overall reaction to ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ being so mixed, that could help out ‘Jumanji’, which has received mostly positive reactions. Once again, this reflects the performance of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ which was up against ‘The Last Jedi’, which also got a mixed reception from audiences.
Globally, ‘The Next Level’ is approaching $500M. Keep in mind, however, that ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ was a bigger success in the U.S. than overseas.
Sony also has another success on its hands with the slice of counterprogramming ‘Little Women’. That drama earned $16.5M over three days and $29M over five. Director Gret Gerwig has proven to be a favorite among female filmgoers, with her Oscar-nominated ‘Lady Bird’, which also starred Saoirse Ronan. Joining Ronan in ‘Little Women’ are other favorites like Emma Watson and Laura Dern, and rapidly rising young stars Florence Pugh, who will be featured in next year’s ‘Black Widow’ and Timothée Chalamet who is headlining Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune’.
Even though the Golden Globes sort of snubbed ‘Little Women’ only nominating Ronan, and the film’s score by Alexandre Desplat, there is still hope that the film could qualify for the Oscars or other accolades. General audiences gave it a rare 5 out of 5 stars via PostTrak.
As mentioned, ‘Frozen 2’ continues to do well. It made $16.5M over three days and $26.1M over five. Like ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, ‘Frozen 2’s three-day performance was stronger this weekend than last, bolstered by the holidays.
20th Century Fox’s ‘Spies in Disguise’ performed well in the face of so much competition. It earned $13.2M over three days and $22.1M over five. This film, which features the voices of Will Smith and Tom Holland, is not just competing against ‘Frozen 2’, but the likes of ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ and ‘Jumanji’ which also appeal to the same young boy demographic.
Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore and 3½ stars via PostTrak. Kinds under 12 gave it 4 stars.
TOP FIVE:
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney) – $72M (3-day)/$134.75M (5-day)
- Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) – $35.3M (3-day)/$59M (5-day)
- Little Women (Sony) – $16.5M (3-day)/$29M (5-day)
- Frozen 2 (Disney) – $16.5M (3-day)/$26.1M (5-day)
- Spies in Disguise (20th Century Fox/Disney) – $13.2M (3-day)/$22.1M (5-day)
A24’s ‘Uncut Gems’, which features Adam Sandler in a buzz-worthy serious role, is performing extremely well in limited release. Also in limited release are Universal/DreamWorks’ Sam Mendes World War I movie ‘1917’ and Warner Brothers’ ‘Just Mercy’ starring Michael B. Jordan. All three are jockeying for recognition for awards season.
Although it’s no longer in the top five, Rian Johnson’s crowd-pleasing mystery flick ‘Knives Out’ has slashed its way past $100M at the domestic box office and is approaching $300M globally.
The only movie opening next weekend– the first of 2021– is ‘The Grudge’ remake. The first few months of any new year tend to be a little slow at the box office but check back to see if this horror reboot can shake things up.
Source: Deadline
