We haven't done a full weekend box office post in some time since we've been sharing the 'top grossing of the year' lists which are all updated if you missed them and you can see the hits in 11 different categories including docs, foreign films, female directors, gay directors, films with female leads, etcetera...
But as for what people were seeing Christmas week and this past weekend, here are the nation's top dozen+ movies chart for both wide releases and limited/expanding titles. Which titles were you catching up with?
| Weekend Box Office (Actuals) (December 28th-30th) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
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| 1 Aquaman $52.1 on 4125 screens (cum. $189.3) Review, Podcast |
1 🔺 Simmba $1.7 on 300 screens *NEW* |
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| 2 Mary Poppins Returns $28.3 on 4090 screens (cum. $99.2) Podcast ❤️ |
2 🔺 If Beale Street Could Talk $766k on 65 screens (cum. $1.9) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
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| 3 Bumblebee $20.9 on 3550 screens (cum. $67.1) |
3 🔺 On the Basis of Sex $685k on 33 screens (cum. $1.4) *NEW* |
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| 4 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $18.8 on 3813 screens (cum. $104.1) Review ❤️ | 4 Ben is Back $538k on 158 screens (cum. $1.7) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
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| 5 The Mule $12.1 on 2787 screens (cum. $61.1) Review |
5 🔺 Shoplifters $210k on 59 screens (cum. $1.2) Interview, Podcast, OSCAR FINALIST ❤️ |
Mary Poppins Returns is performing a little better than Into the Woods but we didn't think there'd be any comparison at all so it's a bit surprising. Will it have long long legs like The Greatest Showman? Aquaman meanwhile is performing way better than expected, not quite Wonder Woman levels but a huge success for DC after their Justice League trouble.
In limited release On the Basis of Sex had the highest per screen average which isn't surprising given RBG's superstar status of late. Shoplifters is continuing to pick up steam, crossing the million dollar mark this weekend, which puts it in the top 15 grossing foreign films of 2018.
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| 6 🔺 Vice $7.7 on 2442 screens (cum. $17.6) Podcast |
6 Free Solo $114k on 59 screens (cum. $11.2) Review ❤️ |
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| 7 🔺 Holmes & Watson $7.4 on 2776 screens (cum. $19.8) |
7 🔺 Stan & Ollie $78k on 5 screens *NEW* Review ❤️ |
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| 8 Second Act $7.3 on 2607 screens (cum. $21.9) |
8 At Eternity's Gate $74k on 50 screens (cum. $1.8) Review ❤️ |
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| 9 Ralph Breaks the Internet $6.7 on 2343 screens (cum. $175.9) |
9 🔺 Destroyer $55k on 3 screens (cum. $112k) Review ❤️ |
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| 10 Dr Seuss's The Grinch $4.1 on 2555 screens (cum. $265.4) Posterized |
10 🔺 Cold War $44k on 3 screens (cum. $143k) Review, Podcast, Oscar FINALIST ❤️ |
It's always tough to be those films that barely open right at the end of any year so Cold War, Stan & Ollie, Capernaum, and Destroyer are struggling to get noticed in the glut of year-end releases. Cold War and Capernaum might be buoyed by Oscar nominations in a few weeks time, though.
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| 11 🔺 Mary Queen of Scots $2.6 on 841 screens (cum. $9) Review |
11 🔺 Capernaum $29k on 9 screens (cum. $114k) Podcast , Oscar FINALIST ❤️ |
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| 12 🔺 The Favourite $2.4 on 809 screens (cum. $15.2) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
12 Swing Kids $24k on 13 screens (cum. $135k) |
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| 13 Bohemian Rhapsody $2.3 on 868 screens (cum. $189.2) Review, Podcast |
13 Vox Lux $21k on 45 screens (cum. $700k) Review, Podcast |
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| 14 Welcome to Marwen $2.2 on 1911 screens (cum. $7.7) |
14 Beautiful Boy $28k on 28 screens (cum. $7.5) Podcast, Worst of... |
| 🔺 = new or expanding theater count / ❤️ = recommended by TFE numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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Finally The Favourite, now in wide release, continues to hold well, becoming Yorgos Lanthimos's biggest hit. And it's likely to play strong throughout Oscar season. Welcome to Marwen hasn't been so lucky, flopping hard. It wasn't extravagantly budgeted despite the visual fx so there's that but still... OUCH.
So, what did you see over Christmas week and the weekend? I went to Mary Poppins Returns on Christmas day and later in the week finally caught up with The Rider (good stuff) and streamed Bird Box which was just as lame as Eric promised.