As noted yesterday, this was another quiet one, and not just because of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Over the next two weeks, almost every major studio (Warner Bros.,/Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Sony, STX, Focus Features, Universal/Comcast Corp., etc.) will drop a major new movie into wide or limited release. It also means solid holds for older movies and one last chance for moviegoers to play catch up before Ferdinand and The Last Jedi kick off the Christmas/Hannukah blitz. Nonetheless, you have to wonder if something like Ferdinand, A Bad Moms Christmas or Daddy's Home 2 would have been better off launching on this weekend. But I digress.
Pixar and Walt Disney's Coco was the top movie of the weekend for its third and final time. The animated gem earned another $18.3 million (-32%) weekend for a $135.5m 19-day total. It's catching up to Moana ($18.5m /34% drop in the third weekend, $144.7m 19-day total) with smaller drops and about equal raw day-to-day numbers. If Coco can withstand the return of the Jedi, it has a real shot at ending up just over/under Moana and Toy Story 2's respective $245-$248m domestic cumes. Oh, and it's still killing it overseas, with a current global cume (including $128m in China) of $389,5m. So, yeah, it's already past The Good Dinosaur and Cars 3.
Justice League has earned $212 million domestic and $613m worldwide, but that got its own post, so let's move on to Wonder.
Lionsgate and Participant Media's Wonder actually added 70 theaters in its fourth weekend and earned $8.45 million (-30%) for a 24-day total of $100.303m. You know, if Lionsgate could have just waited until Monday to cross $100m they would have gotten their own post. But now they may have to settle a Sunday morning headline. Nonetheless, the Jacob Tremblay/Julia Roberts/Owen Wilson drama is Lionsgate's biggest domestic offering since La La Land back in late 2016, and it's possible (if not yet probable) that this $20m heartwarmer will challenge that film's $151m domestic total for the title of Lionsgate's biggest non-Twilight/Hunger Games release.
Walt Disney and Marvel's Thor: Ragnarok earned another $6.3 million (-36%) in its sixth weekend for a $301.2m domestic cume. Again, if Walt Disney could have just waited until Monday or Tuesday, they would have gotten their own post out of the $300m+ milestone, but now they'll have to share the headline with Wonder. I'm sure they are devastated as they preemptively count their Star Wars and Infinity War bucks, but it's the little things, right? Nonetheless, it's already MCU's third "no Tony Stark" $300m+ grosser after the first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Oh, and it has $833.2m worldwide, thus passing Wonder Woman and every Spider-Man movie save for Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man 3.
Paramount's Daddy's Home 2 grossed $6 million (-23%) in its fifth weekend as the family-friendly comedy has kept pace with Fox's adult-skewing Murder on the Orient Express. The comedy sequel has now earned $91.159m domestic and $142.3m worldwide. Kenneth Branagh's murder mystery will earn $5.1m (-26%) for a new $92.7m domestic total. Sony's The Star earned $3.675m (-10%) in its fourth weekend for a $32.279m 24-day total. The faith-based toon has already tripled its opening weekend and should hang in there at least through Christmas, so mission: accomplished on that score.
The late-breaking Oscar season is finally kicking into gear, and that makes sense as the movies are starting to be better (and more crowd-pleasing) as we head into the next lap. Shape of Water expanded into 41 theaters for what may be a $26k per-theater average, but I discussed that in the "new releases" post. A24's Lady Bird expanded to 1,557 theaters and grossed $3.547m (-17%) in its sixth weekend for a $22.331m domestic total. It'll easily become the studio's biggest domestic grosser right around the time it earns its 200th positive Rotten Tomatoes review to continue its 1.00 batting average. Now if everyone who (justifiably) loves Lady Bird could spend that $4 to rent Edge of Seventeen, that would be a win/win.
Fox Searchlight's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri expanded into 1,620 theaters in its fifth weekend and earned $2.86 million (-35%). The crowd-pleasing (and yet quite raw) Francis McDormand drama has now amassed a $18.31m 31-day domestic total. It'll eventually pass Gifted ($24m) to become Fox Searchlight's biggest 2017 release, and it'll be their biggest grosser since at least Brooklyn two years ago. Not to get melodramatic, but I am beyond thrilled that movies like Lady Bird and Three Billboards are kicking butt in this current theatrical environment. I've long been at a point where I fear for any movie that isn't a tentpole-ish offering, so this is music to my ears.
Focus Features' The Darkest Hour expanded to 53 theaters this weekend and earned $777,000 (+611%) over the weekend. The Gary Oldman-as-Winston Churchill biopic snagged a solid $14.7k per-theater-average and a $1.232 million 19-day total. It will expand into 80 theaters next weekend before going wide on Dec. 22. Sony Pictures Classics' Call Me By Your Name expanded to nine theaters (including one well-within convenient driving distance, so that's on my to-do list next week) in its third weekend. The acclaimed/buzzy/award-winning romantic drama earned around $290k (-2%) weekend. That's a $32k per-theater-average and a $1.371m 17-day total.
Woody Allen's Wonder Wheel expanded to 47 theaters and continued to not do very well at all. The poorly-reviewed Amazon release earned $155,805 in its second weekend. That means a $3,315 per-theater-average and a $322k ten-day cume. This could be Allen's first outright flop in awhile. Oh, and Titanic's 20th-anniversary release dropped 84% in its second weekend for a $64,000 weekend. Gosh, between this and the poor Terminator 2: Judgment Day reissue, Avatar 2 may have to settle for just $2 billion worldwide instead of $3b worldwide.
