Weekend Wrap-Up: Older Release Dominates the New Year

January 14, 2020

1917

It was a mixed weekend with the two wide expansions bettering predictions by small margins, but most of the rest of the top five failed to do so. Granted, no film truly bombed, but the little misses did add up causing the total box office to slip by 6.6% from last weekend hitting $132 million. Dips like this are expected at this time of year, as the big holiday releases are fading and January releases just are not expected to be able to compensate. On the positive side, this weekend was 11% higher than the same weekend last year and that’s helped 2020 get off to an early 6.3% / $24 million lead at $410 million to $386 million. This is not only a faster start than last year, it is actually faster than 2018, which set the record at the end of the year. I’m not saying 2020 will have the biggest total domestic box office; it is far too early to make a prediction like that. However, an early lead can help, as it sets a tone of winning. If the dominant story is a weak box office, then moviegoers could assume the movies coming out are not worth going to see and that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

1917 earned $37.00 million during its first weekend of wide release. In fact, it earned $37,000,200 and thank goodness for that “2” there, or I would have assumed it was still an estimate. This is a little better than predicted and when you combine it with its reviews, its A-minus CinemaScore, and its Oscar nominations, it strongly suggests the film will earn $100 million domestically.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was next with $15.19 million over the weekend, which was within a rounding error of expectations. The film has pulled in $478.30 million after four weeks of release and it is on pace to become the third film released in 2019 and the 15th film all-time to get to $500 million domestically. It will be knocked out of the top five before it gets there.

Jumanji: The Next Level matched expectations perfectly with $14.01 million over the weekend for a total of $257.13 million after a month of release. There will be another installment in the franchise.

Like a Boss missed expectations with just $10.01 million during its opening weekend. Paramount had a weak 2019 and this isn’t a good way to start 2020. Furthermore, its reviews and its B-rating from CinemaScore are not going to help its legs. Good news, it didn’t cost a lot to make, so it could still break even, eventually. It will need to be a bigger hit on the home market.

Just Mercy just managed a spot in the top five with $9.71 million for a total of $10.15 million including its limited release run. The film was shut out at the Oscar nominations yesterday, but its reviews and its A plus from CinemaScore should still help its legs going forward.

Little Women was knocked into sixth place with $7.80 million over the weekend for a total of $74.18 million after three weeks of release. This was a sharp enough decline that it is no longer on pace to reach $100 million, not without help from Awards Season. That said, it did earn some Oscar nominations yesterday and it is a long weekend coming up, so a strong hold could be in the cards.

Underwater opened a little faster than expected, but with just $7.01 million during its opening weekend, it is far from a hit. The film’s reviews are mixed and it only managed a C from CinemaScore, which is also mixed when compared to the average horror film. It would have performed better had it not been one of the last films made by Fox before its merger with Disney. I don’t think Disney cared for the film and had likely written it off as a loss before the deal was even finalized.

- Weekend Box Office Chart
- Friday Box Office Chart
- Thursday Preview Chart

- Weekend Estimates
- Friday Estimates
- Thursday Previews
- Weekend Predictions
- Theater Counts
- Oscar nominations

- 2019 Domestic Chart
- All-Time Domestic Chart

Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Underwater, Just Mercy, Jumanji: The Next Level, Like a Boss, 1917, Little Women, Jumanji