Weekend box office: Audiences stay home and wait for Star Wars
When the small budget THE DISASTER ARTIST is the only new movie opening, you know Hollywood is giving up on that particular weekend. That’s not to take anything away from the freshly original film, it’s just that it was never going to be a powerhouse blockbuster. That said, the film managed a $6 million opening, good enough for fifth place. But with no other competing big movies, Pixar’s COCO continued its run at the top of the weekend box office, raking in close to $20 million. But the truth is, audiences are staying home while they wait for the movie event of the year; STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. That juggernaut hits next week and should dominate for at least a couple of months after it opens. It’s good to be an executive at Disney right now.
Next week, of course, will belong to STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI. Two years ago, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS opened to $247 million and opened at the same time, so there’s no reason to expect less from The Last Jedi. It will depend on how much of Awakens opening take was dependent on the “newness” of the return of Star Wars, but even taking that into account, I expect The Last Jedi to come in right around $250 million. Interestingly, FERDINAND opens up next weekend as well and while it might seem like genius counter-marketing, I think it’s more a situation where Fox doesn’t know what to do with it. I would normally put FERDINAND in second place, but I’m not convinced audiences are over COCO yet, so it might struggle. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.
1. Coco $19m
2. Justice League $9.6m
3. Wonder $9.3m
4. Thor: Ragnarok $6.3m
5. The Disaster Artist $6m
6. Daddy’s Home 2 $5.6m
7. Murder on the Orient Express $5.2m
8. Lady Bird $3.6m
9. Just Getting Started $3.6m
10. The Star $3.3m
(Deadline)
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