The calm before the box office storm?
Monday, December 11, 2017 at 5:00PM by Nathaniel R
| Weekend Box Office (Dec 8-10) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide |
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| 1. Coco $18.4 (cum. $135.6) REVIEW | FEELING SEEN |
1.🔺 The Shape of Water $1.1 on 41 screens (cum. $1.3) CAPSULE | PODCAST |
| 2. Justice League $9.6 (cum. $212.1) REVIEW | 2.🔺 Darkest Hour $741k on 53 screens (cum. $1.1) CAPSULE | SECOND VISIT |
| 3. Wonder $8.4 (cum. $100.3) |
3.🔺 Man Who Invented... $687k on 720 screens (cum. $4.3) |
| 4.🔺 Disaster Artist $6.3 (cum. $7.9) REVIEW | 4.🔺 Call Me By Your Name $291k on 9 screens (cum. $1.3) SCREENPLAY | SEX SCENES |
| 5. Thor Ragnarok $6.2 (cum. $301.1) REVIEW, YOUR QUEEN |
5.🔺 I Tonya $264k on 4 screens REVIEW NEW |
With only 2 new movies (I Tonya and Just Getting Started) in a big movie-going month like December it was a dire weekend at the box office with the box office essentially looking the same as last week. Somebody will need to write a book some day on what happened to distribution in 2017...
This year has been so "off" from films staying in the top ten for weeks and weeks which weren't even considered hits (like Blade Runner 2049) to the jerky pattern of releases with weekends stuffed with 20 new movies and no time for audiences to get to know any of them and then suddenly weekends with nothing. Only 2 new films on a December weekend? Bizarre.
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| 6. Daddy's Home 2 $5.9 (cum. $91) | 6. 🔺 Wonder Wheel $155k on 47 screens (cum. $321k) PODCAST |
| 7. Murder on the Orient Express $5.1 (cum. $92.7) REVIEW | 7. Loving Vincent $137k on 145 screens (cum. $5.7) REVIEW |
| 8. 🔺 The Star $3.6 (cum. $32.2) |
8. My Friend Dahmer $129k on 110 screens ($1.1) REVIEW |
| 9. 🔺 Lady Bird $3.4 (cum. $22.2) REVIEW | PODCAST | 9. Florida Project $89k on 101 screens ($5) PERSONAL | Toronto's Best | Podcast | |
| 10. 🔺 Just Getting Started $3.2 NEW | 10. Titanic (ReRelease) $67k on 75 screens (cum. $659.3) |
🔺 = new or significant expansion numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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It wasn't all terrible news. Most of the Oscar hopefuls are performing well even though only people on the coasts can see them. They were all being as timid as possible before they have some "GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE" or "SAG NOMINEE" tags to hang on their ad buys. Still it's perplexing that so few of them tried to take advantage of the calm before the storm like The Disaster Artist and Lady Bird did. Those movies will likely become A24's highest grossers. Lady Bird is almost there already. It just has to leap frog The Witch, Ex Machina and Moonlight and will likely pass all three by this time next week. Congrats!
WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND?
Reader Comments (20)
The Shape of Water -- I liked it, but did not love it. You have to go with the love story, which I found kind of repugnant. It also has a weird view of sex, and I did not need to see Sally Hawkins masturbating ... twice. I was very impressed, however, with Octavia Spencer and Michael Shannon. They were terrific. I admired the movie I guess, and could tell it was a labor of love. The theater was only a quarter full on a Saturday night in a big city, so I wonder how broad of an appeal it will ultimately have.
Ozark -- I am obsessed with this show. Jason Bateman is a really good director, and he and the other actors are constantly surprising. A+ to Laura Linney and Julia Garner.
They're all scared of Star Wars next weekend, which is kind of silly given that plenty of people watch more than one movie a month.
I saw Coco, which just knocked me out. Magnificent visuals, of course, and an excellent story. It'd be great if this could compete in the Best Picture category, but after Inside Out's omission, I think it's impossible.
God's Own Country, quite nice, but I don't think there was a scene where I understood more than two-thirds of what was being said. Even before one of the characters has a stroke, turns out it makes little difference. It reminded me of when I lived in Germany, and it was far easier to follow the German subtitles than the "English" (whenever they spoke in thick dialect with Scottish the worst - anyone here seen Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen?) being spoken on screen.
Thelma really blew me away. One of the best mixtures of the everyday and the supernatural ever - it's in a class with Rosemary's Baby. I've loved Joachim Trier's previous films, Reprise and Oslo, August 31. This is even better. Hope it gets its Best Foreign Film nomination
Thanks for spoiler on God's Own Country, ken s!
Serioulsy, its getting harder to read commetns in this site without fear of getting spoiled.
What spoiler?
Hopefully with the GG noms I'll see Call Me By Your Name on a screen near me. I'm tired of waiting.
Shape of Water, I, Tonya, & Foxtrot.
Shape of Water was my favorite of the three, except for an exceptionally disturbing one minute part that happens after Sally's GBFF nods off. Those 60 seconds dropped it to a B+ from an A. I could not even deal!
That wasn't much of a spoiler re: God's Own Country. The character is already afflicted the first time you see him.
I saw Coco, which may have suffered from high expectations. I liked it, but I didn't cry which everyone I talked to seemed to have done watching it. It's a gorgeous film, and I loved the story, providing some surprises along the way.
After watching Coco, I stalked its co-director, Adrian Molina. I caught a glimpse of him in the film's introduction and he is sexy. =)
Saw DARKEST HOUR. It was fine and even very good at times. But I'd rather see Wright's Dunkirk scene from ATONEMENT again on loop for 2+ hours.
"The Shape of Water," which is good but disappointing. Is it just me, or is Shannon in the film more than Hawkins? It's weird how it's allegedly *about* the romance and yet del Toro seems far more interested in the snarling, imperious antagonist. There just isn't enough development of the romance to become truly invested in it.
But it's a lot of fun. And Jenkins is so superlative. He was the stand-out for me!
Ok, sorry, I did not know plot points from the movie. Didn't know one of the characters was ialready afflicted the first time you see him.
Thank you Jonathan for articulating my thoughts better than I could. The movie does have magical moments, and my date (female) loved it. TF
The hubby and I saw Murder on the Orient Express yesterday, which is the type of adult popcorn entertainment I expected it to be -- and that takes nothing away from the rather enjoyable movie. Pfeiffer was the primary draw for me because it's always a treat to see her on the big screen, but there is not enough for most of the cast to do. I also found Branagh's Poirot exhausting in his pontificating and found the opening to be quite hokey.
Saw Murder on the Orient Express and it was a delightful mess. I like the starry cast's assumption of their tiny tiny roles. At first, Kenneth Branagh's moustache was a great distraction, then later in the film I find him to be the biggest distraction from the story, sorry to say. Michelle Pfeiffer is the MVP here (love her closing-credits song; she should record a supper club-setting jazz album), followed by Johnny Depp's indelible turn as the strangely charismatic Ratchett, and parts of Daisy Ridley's Mary Debenham. Leslie Odom was a bit miscast here (so fascinating as Aaron Burr in Hamilton), and what little I can get from Olivia Colman is a good day in the movies. The 70mm format was majestic.
I'm not a Mother or a Daughter, so I just didn't really connect with "Lady Bird". She just seemed like a brat who really wasn't as special as she thought she should be. The performances from everyone were fine, though.
I watched "Boss Baby", which was cute, but rested on Alec Baldwin's charms and some clever visuals. Cute. Nothing special.
Yeah when I saw TSOW at TIFF I felt the same way. I wasn't invested in the romance. Will see it again and reassess when it opens my way. Though I did love Shannon in it. I liked the sci fi B movie he's adding into his performance.
I saw Murder on the Orient Express.
Movie: C+
Kinda hated the story’s resolution.
Cast MVP: Josh Gad was quite good and had a surprisingly meaty part
Runner-ups: Depp was surprisingly effective, Ridley was good in one of the larger parts. Dench strong in essentially a nothing part.
Pfeiffer and Branagh were the disappointments. Easily the film’s two juiciest roles and both were ACTING in all caps. Distractingly gmicky, the two of them. I expected much better from them, being such fine actors otherwise.
Saw DARKEST HOUR and did not expect to find Neville Chamberlain the most interesting character in it...
That's not a knock. Well, not much of one. Very solid acting all around, but no real surprises. Husband swears Albert Finney was a much better Churchill in A GATHERING STORM, which I can't speak to, but certainly physically he was a better fit for the part.
Saw The Shape of Water and, like others here, liked but not loved it. Loved the cinematography, the whimsical touches, the actors (especially Jenkins, but almost everyone acquits themselves nicely to some degree or another), the score, the visuals, etc.
But with so much plot to get to, they really rushed the romance at the beginning. Eliza seems awfully confident from the get-go in her interactions with the almost personality-free man-creature, so there was almost no sense of discovery or emotional connection, which undercuts the emotion for the rest of the movie. I could've used less time with Shannon's character outside of work (really, did they add anything to his character that we wouldn't see in his work scenes?) and more time with the couple the film revolves around.
Saw The Shape of Water - Loved it!! Hawkins was (of course) great - thought Jenkins, Spencer & Stuhlburg were fantastic supporting - wasn't sure if Spencer deserved award talks for turning in the same type of "sassy-sidekick" character she does - but boy does she deliver when she is on screen (Thelma Ritter comparisons are apt!) I'm pulling for a Hawkins/Ronan showdown at the Oscars!! :-)
Also- watched Crooked House (Agatha Christie) on demand w/Glenn Close, Gillian Anderson, Christina Hendricks, Terence Stamp - was not familiar with the story - nicely done....ending was totally unexpected!! Evidently this was Christie's favorite mystery. :-)