So, from here on out we'll be hitting our "Year in Review" lists which will include a few exciting box office deep dives on niche topics. So let's retire the regular box office charts of the weekend for 2019 with one last blowout of EVERYTHING still in wide release (there's just 13 films on that many screens at the moment and boy is the last of 'em unlucky). And, as per usual, their counterparts in limited release where the more interesting movies usually are. That said you'll notice the platform section of the chart is not yet complete. That's because those numbers rarely come in comprehensively or correctly before Monday evening so we'll update again then.
What did you see this weekend?
Weekend Box Office
December 13th-15h (ACTUALS)
🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended |
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)
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PLATFORM TITLES
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1 🔺 JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL $59.2 *new*
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1 PARASITE $632k on 306 screens (cum. $20.3 PODCAST, CLASS, BONG, SAG CAST★ |
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2 FROZEN II $19 (cum. $366.4) REVIEW
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2 🔺 UNCUT GEMS $537k on 5 screens *new* REVIEW ★ |
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5 🔺 BLACK CHRISTMAS $4.2 *new*
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5 HONEY BOY $240k on 387 screens (cum. $2.6) REVIEW, PODCAST ★ |
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| 6 FORD V FERRARI $4 (cum. $98.1) REVIEW, PODCAST ★ |
6 WAVES $102k on 281 screens (cum. $1.3) |
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7 QUEEN & SLIM $3.5 (cum. $33.1)
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7 NO SAFE SPACES $108k on 165 screens (cum. $1) |
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8 A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN... $3.2 (cum. $49.2) REVIEW, PODCAST ★
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8 EN BRAZOS DE UN ASESINO $67k on 160 screens (cum. $372k) |
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9 DARK WATERS $1.8 (cum. $8.7) REVIEW
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9 PANIPAT $62k on 104 screens (cum. $461k) |
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10 21 BRIDGES $1.1 (cum. $26.3)
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10🔺 A HIDDEN LIFE $50k on 5 screens *new*
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11 MIDWAY $871k (cum. $55.2)
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11 PAIN AND GLORY $48k on 78 screens ($3.6) REVIEW, PODCAST, TV SPOT ★
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12 PLAYING WITH FIRE $665k (cum. $43.2)
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12 THE LIGHTHOUSE $48k on 50 screens (cum. $10.6)
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13 PLAYMOBIL THE MOVIE $143k (cum. $966k)
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13 🔺 63 UP $43k on 20 screens (cum. $100k) *new*
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Jumanji opened huge as expected but we're a bit sad about it because obviously it will end up in the year's top ten booting out the ONLY original film currently there (Jordan Peele's Us) making it an all franchise top ten yet again. Sigh). In just its fourth week, Frozen 2 has lept over both Joker and Aladdin to become the 6th highest grosser of the year. The next films in its sights are Spider-Man Far From Home and Captain Marvel. Elsa's kind of a superhero herself so it figures.
At the other end of the wide release spectrum, we don't know anything about Playmobil, the toys or the movie, but it's the biggest animated flop of the year in a rough year for animated films in general. In its second weekend it had a per screen average of just $61. You read that right -- Sixty-one dollars; theaters were cavernously empty. I can't recall ever hearing of a movie in wide release doing that poorly. Obviously whichever theaters booked it were required to keep it for two weeks since it had an abysmal opening last weekend and screens are always in high demand this time of year.
In limited release Bombshell and Uncut Gems both had impressive first weekends, buoyed in no small part, by their awards buzz. That same conversation didn't help Richard Jewell much which becomes Clint Eastwood's lowest grossing opening weekend in decades. Ouch.
Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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