Friday Estimates: 1917 has Exemplary Start to Wide Expansion

January 11, 2020

1917

1917 earned $13.97 million during the first Friday of its wide expansion. Universal is projecting a $36.5 million weekend after this result, which is a little better than we predicted and better than most were expecting after its Thursday previews. Add in the film’s stellar reviews and its likely performance when the Oscar nominations are announced on Monday, and the film should have very long legs. (It earned an A minus from CinemaScore, which is actually lower than I was anticipating.) Universal didn’t have a great 2019 domestically, so an early $100 million hit would help its 2020 run get off to a better start.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker landed in second place with $3.92 million on Friday, putting it on pace to match our $16 million prediction. The film will reach $500 million domestically, but it might be knocked out of the top five before then. It depends on how many theaters it loses to next week’s competition.

Like a Boss earned third place on Friday with $3.9 million, but it likely won’t stay there long, as the next two films should overtake it. The film has the worst reviews of the weekend and a mere B from CinemaScore, so its legs will likely be quite short, likely meaning it will barely get past $10 million during its opening weekend.

Just Mercy was close behind with $3.65 million on Friday; however, its reviews and its A plus from CinemaScore should help it climb over Like a Boss over the full weekend with between $10 million and $11 million. This is a little better than anticipated and Warner Bros. should be happy with this result.

Jumanji: The Next Level was also close behind with $3.3 million. However, since it is a holdover, it will bounce back the most on Saturday, allowing it to climb above both Just Mercy and Like a Boss with between $12 million and $13 million over the full weekend. This is weaker than we predicted, but still enough to get to $250 million over the weekend. That will be its last milestone domestically.

Underwater managed sixth place on Friday with $2.49 million, putting it on pace for between $6 million and $7 million over the full weekend. This isn’t good, but it matches our prediction and many thought it would be worse. That said, its reviews are mixed and it only managed a C-rating from CinemaScore, so don’t expect long legs. In fact, Little Women will overtake it during the rest of the weekend.

- Friday Box Office Chart
- Thursday Preview Chart

- Thursday Previews
- Weekend Predictions
- Theater Counts

- 2019 Domestic Chart
- 2020 Domestic Chart

Filed under: Friday Estimates, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Underwater, Just Mercy, Jumanji: The Next Level, Like a Boss, 1917, Little Women