What did you see over the weekend? We skipped new releases to see And Then We Danced (Sweden's soulful deserving Oscar submission) a second time and to catch up with Gaspar Noe's insane dance/drug film Climax on Amazon Prime. The full box office chart after the jump with a few notes...
Weekend Box Office
October 25-27 (ACTUALS)
🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended |
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)
|
PLATFORM TITLES
|
 |
 |
1 MALEFICENT MISTRESS OF EVIL $19.3 (cum. $66.2)
|
1 🔺 THE LIGHTHOUSE $3.2 on 586 screens (cum. $3.6) REVIEW ★ |
 |
 |
3 THE ADDAMS FAMILY $12 (cum. $73.1)
|
3 🔺 JOJO RABBIT $1 on 55 screens (cum. $1.5) TIFF WIN |
 |
 |
4 ZOMBIELAND DOUBLE TAP $11.8 (cum. $47.2) REVIEW
|
4 🔺 HOUSEFULL 4... $904k on 315 screens *new* |
 |
 |
5 🔺 COUNTDOWN $8.8 *new*
|
5 🔺 JESUS IS KING $862k on 372 screens *new* |
 |
 |
| 6 🔺 BLACK AND BLUE $8.3 *new* |
6 🔺 WESTERN STARS $560k on 537 screens *new* |
 |
 |
8 🔺 THE CURRENT WAR $2.6 *new* REVIEW
|
8 LINDA RONSTADT... $146k on 134 screens (cum. $3.7) REVIEW |
 |
 |
9 ABOMINABLE $2 (cum. $56.9)
|
9 THE CAPTAIN $120k on 39 screens (cum. $580k) |
 |
 |
10 DOWNTON ABBEY $1.9 (cum. $92.2) COSTUMES, MAGGIE SMITH ★
|
10 🔺 FANTASTIC FUNGI $60k on 14 screens (cum. $284k)
|
 |
 |
13 IT CHAPTER TWO $683k (cum. $210.7) REVIEW, PODCAST ★
|
13 OFFICIAL SECRETS $22k ON 45 screens (cum. $1.9) REVIEW
|
 |
 |
14 🔺 ONCE UPON A TIME... $555k (cum. $140.4) REVIEW, PODCAST ★
|
14 🔺 FRANKIE $19k on 4 screens *new* INTERVIEW ★
|
 |
 |
15 🔺 SCARY STORIES TO TELL... $534k (cum. $68.7)
|
15 🔺 SYNONYMS $17k on 2 screens *new* REVIEW, INTERVIEW ★
|
A few notes
• Though Joker was initially reported to have regained its #1 position, that reporting was hasty and Maleficent has actually held on to the #1 position for a second week (a close call with just $100,000 separating them).
• Both Scary Stories... and Once Upon a Time... reupped their screen counts by 1000+ screens hoping to capitalize on the horror movie season and 10 minutes of unseen footage respectively to about a half million extra dollars in both cases. Decent but not exciting as increased revenue went.
• Parasite and JoJo Rabbit continue to do very strong business in limited release which bodes well for their already promising Oscar campaigns. Pain and Glory took its first hit, though, down a few percentage points in its 4th week. Regardless, it's shaping up to be Almodóvar's biggest hit this decade in the US and is already is that worldwide with $31 million already)
• The Lighthouse made the top ten overall, an impressive feat considering it hasn't even gone wide at under 600 screens. Meanwhile the doc No Safe Spaces, a conservative-minded doc about free speech on college campuses had the strongest per screen average albeit on only one screen.
• Frankie and Synonyms, two films we like here at TFE, got lost in the shuffle somewhat in their very limited opening weekends.
Next week will be very crowded marketplace as November begins. There are over a dozen small indie releases and four new wide releases, too: Terminator Dark Fate, Arctic Dogs, Harriet, and Motherless Brooklyn .
Monday, October 28, 2019 at 9:32PM 
Reader Comments (39)
Watched SUMMER STOCK (classic Judy Garland, screened at a film society to coincide with the local release of JUDY), Ireland's Oscar submission GAZA, new releases AFTER THE WEDDING and PAVAROTTI, and, at the Palestinian Film Festival, SCREWDRIVER.
Lighthouse - loved it. Wish it went comedy so it had the chance to get Golden Globe love. Though maybe it wouldn’t. Think it’s only Oscar chance is cinematography and big maybe Dafoe.
I saw The House That Jack Built (awesome film) and The Lighthouse (fucking incredible).
You saw Climax! What did you think? I pretty much loved it, against my better judgment, but I can't imagine watching it again.
I also went to see And Then We Danced at NewFest! What a beautiful and special film -- incredibly moving and that continuous shot scene at the party is absolutely marvelous. Hope it gets a lot of love from a lot of folks.
I saw The Lighthouse (an acting and directing showcase), Hustlers (overrated), and Dolemite is my Name (Wesley Snipes steals every scene he's in).
I had to postpone seeing "Parasite," unfortunately. Of the wide release top ten, I'm not interested in any of them. The closest I'll get to seeing "Joker" is the video of him dancing on the steps re-scored to the theme from 'Succession'.
"Parasite," quite good but it's being overpraised. I liked it about the same as I did "Us," which it bears many remarkable similarities to. Both are also bold, clever, twisty films that don't always nail the balance between their genre elements and their social commentary.
That commercial list is wretched. Is Judy already petering out?
I’m glad Joker is doing well. Makes folks like he and I seem seen. I would have chosen a darker foundation paint and maybe played the part less youthful, but bravo.
I saw this old movie at the Castro called “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”
Anyone heard of it? It was quite a hoot!
It was actually kinda weird to *finally* see the source material after seeing so many references, spoofs, etc..
@SFOTroy - that movie is great - love, someone who appreciates movies made before 1970.
Watched LUCE , smart script, thought-provoking, strong performances from Watts, Roth, Spencer and especially Kelvin Harrison Jr. it's a provocative film that begs you to talk about it when it's over; Also watched THE KITCHEN, well...Lots of talented actors wasted ( love McCarthy, Moss and Haddish) it couldn't make up it's mind what kind of a movie it wanted to be ( do not draw any comparisons with the far, far supirior Widows); DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, very entertaining and well acted , everything about it just works and whilst this film is no Parasite, it does exactly what it sets out to do- be a blast! and Murphy puts in a a strong energetic performance; THE LAUNDROMAT, Yes, the message comes across loud and clear about the dilemma of fraudulent insurance scams, tax evasions and shell companies, but the storytelling is haphazard, disjointed and feeble at best ans such a waste of the likes of Sharon Stone ( would love to see her character and the Russians dynamic, given that Stone steasl her 5 minutes of screen time that would've been a blast) and the very charming Matthias Schoenaerts in a little more than a cameo, also Meryl has an over the top second character utterly unnecessary ( guess Sofia Vergara was not available).
Who would have guessed that Judy would gross over $20 million?
Considering the shortened season and late releases of Bombshell and Little Women, Judy making 20mil+ is really going to help its chances with awards bodies.
The best thing about Joker's financial success is that the movie cost the trifle 55-70 million. No 200, 250 million. Bravo.
Look how sleepy the box office was this weekend: Why wouldn't an Oscar distributor have seen that as an opportunity?
PARASITE - extraordinary, my first A+ of the year (and I didn't give anything an A+ last year!)
We saw Parasite - very well done and unexpected. It is quite a ride!
Would love to see some surprise acting noms. Editing and production design were great!!
Also caught - Dolemite is My Name - very entertaining - costumes were great!!
Dolemite is My Name: I liked it, but I don't know if I liked it as much as The Disaster Artist. I know, I know, James Franco is a rat bastard and everyone should let go of ANYTHING he appeared in. But it's really slow (and, unlike The Disaster Artist which you could lob the same issue of "slow" at, kind of lacking content) until they start preparing for and shooting the movie. That part's as good as the equivalent part of Disaster Artist, so I'd say...B.
I saw Jojo Rabbit and Dolemite is my Name. Jojo, touted as an "anti-hate satire," is not much of a satire. It's sweet, funny and the kids are charming, but Waititi softens the edges too much and goes for a twee atmosphere that feels too incongruent with the setting. I was never bored, but I was also never engaged by the film.
Dolemite is buoyed by Eddie Murphy's dynamic performance--and the rest of the cast is terrific too. The film zips by and is a good time all the way through. What may hinder Murphy's Oscar chances is that the film is too much of a good time. Hopefully the Oscars can get over its bias against comedies and recognize Murphy in his best performance in years.
Regarding JF's comment, this would have been the weekend to premiere Harriet. I have a feeling it will suffer next weekend, with expansions for Jojo Rabbit, Parasite, and Pain and Glory. The box office may be so bad it will knock Erivo out of contention.
Saw Dolemite and while the movie was fun and told a story I'd never heard anything about before, I wish it had had a bit more depth. But it was good to see KM Key and W Snipes supporting roles (you could tell Snipes was absolutely having a ball) and of course Eddie Murphy was just terrific. Would love to see him get some recognition at awards time because he deserves it. People often forget just what a good actor he is.
Saw Pain and Glory, it might be my favorite Pedro movie. Antonio deserves a Best Actor nom.
George. Not surprising... Garland has been an idol to many for years. If the movie itself were better,,, it would have had good word of mouth and made even more $$$
Saw "The Lighthouse" and have to say I was disappointed. I like both actors but so much of the dialogue was inaudible / unintelligible. Still, there's no getting away from the fact that the amount of grueling physical action they have to go through (especially Pattinson) is nothing short of amazing. I generally love black and white photography and I know this piece is set on a fogbound island but did so much of it have to look like a Guy Maddin short? Next day I went to "Pain and Glory". A beautiful experience. Hope - in this year's hotly contested Best Actor competition - Banderas' splendidly sensitive work manages to nab at least a nomination. But I'm amazed there's so little buzz around the fantastic supporting turns from Asie Etxeandia (as a gifted actor trying to juggle heroin addiction and catch-as-catch can career) and Penelope Cruz as Banderas' mother in the childhood flashbacks. Both are memorable.
I saw Terminator, which opened in UK this weekend - I enjoyed it and Mackenzie Davis is obviously a standout. It spurred me on to finally watch Tully - Davis again great unsurprisingly but Theron is amazing (again unsurprisingly!)
Black and blue- 78% positive
Addams family. 98% positive
I saw and did not like "The Lighthouse" both actors are good but the script could have made a good half hour 'Twilight Zone".
"The Light House" has one of those annoying overdone scores that the film did not need. Great black and white photography and good sense of period but the weakness is in the script.
Your feedback helps me a lot, A very meaningful event, I hope everything will go well
Usually there’s declarative hyperbole from readers around performance they’ve just seen. The best we hear here after Pain And Glory is that Banderas should get a nom. ‘Nom’. So he’s essentially out of consideration for the win.
My diaper is full of poo-poo, I've fallen and I can't get up. Call 911.
Saw "Judy" last weekend. Miss Renee is the truth! Stunning performance. Welcome back to the living! Get that Oscar nomination!!!
Nice try, but he ain’t winning.
I too saw Pain and Glory. It is an extraordinary film with terrific work from Cannes Best Actor winner Antonio Banderas.
I think posters say Banderas deserves an Oscar nomination instead of a win, because it is so difficult for foreign language performances to make the cut. If Banderas gets in, then we can start the drums for a win. If Banderas lands a nomination with four previous Oscar winners (which could occur), we may see a repeat of the 2002 when Adrien Brody benefitted from being the sole nominee without an Oscar.
3rtful, it's almost impossible to win Best Actor for a foreign language movie, much less get a nomination. Isn't the winner Benini the last one to be nominated?
brookesboy -- from what I recall, Biutiful, for which Javier Bardem was nominated in 2010, is all in Spanish.
Thanks, Troy, I knew I was forgetting something!