What did you see over the weekend? General audiences were singing along to Frozen II in big numbers while Knives Out exceeded expectations with a strong opening weekend. After the jump everything still in wide release plus their counterparts at the moment in the world of platform titles...
Weekend Box Office
November 29th-December 1st (ACTUALS)
🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended |
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)
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PLATFORM TITLES
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1 FROZEN II $85.9 (cum. $288.8) REVIEW
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1 JOJO RABBIT $1.2 on 730 screens (cum. $18.3) TIFF WIN, PODCAST ★ |
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3 FORD V FERRARI $13.1 (cum. $81) REVIEW, PODCAST ★
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3 🔺 DARK WATERS $621k on 94 screens (cum. $964k) REVIEW ★ |
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4 🔺 QUEEN & SLIM $11.8 (cum. $16) *new*
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4 🔺 HONEY BOY $368k on 186 screens (cum. $1.4) REVIEW, PODCAST ★ |
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5 A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN... $11.7 (cum. $34.2) REVIEW ★
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5 🔺 WAVES $140k on 47 screens (cum. $564k) REVIEW, 2ND OPINION ★ |
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| 6 21 BRIDGES $5.5 (cum $19.2) |
6 THE LIGHTHOUSE $115k on 90 screens (cum. $10.3) REVIEW ★ |
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7 PLAYING WITH FIRE $4.2 (cum. $39.2)
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7 🔺 PAIN & GLORY $104k on 152 screens (cum. $3.4) REVIEW, PODCAST, TV SPOT ★ |
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8 MIDWAY $3.9 (cum. $50.2)
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8 JAY & SILENT BOB REBOOT $22k on 6 screens (cum. $2.8) |
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9 LAST CHRISTMAS $2 (cum. $31.6) REVIEW
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9 BETTER DAYS $19k on 13 screens (cum. $1.9) |
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11 HARRIET $1.8 (cum. $39.4) REVIEW, PODCAST
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11 🔺 63 UP $13k on 1 screen (cum. $18k) *new*
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12 THE GOOD LIAR $1.5 (cum. $14.8) REVIEW
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12 PEANUT BUTTER FALCON $12k on 31 screens (cum. $20.4) REVIEW
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13 MALEFICENT MISTRESS OF EVIL $1.3 (cum. $111.5) REVIEW
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13 🔺 SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL $12k on 6 screens *new*
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14 🔺 CHARLIE'S ANGELS $1.2 (cum. $16.8) REVIEW
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14 LINDA RONSTADT... $11k on 20 screens (cum. $4.2) REVIEW
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Frozen II broke Thanksgiving records and will surely wind up in the top three highest grossers of the year when all is said and done. Meanwhile Ford V Ferrari keps earning for Fox so it should easily cross the $100 million mark. It's always such a relief when non-genre movies made for adults do that! In less rosy news in the Oscar contender realm of box office players, JoJo Rabbit is now starting to slow down some might say prematurely. Parasite is also finally slowing but it's going to cross $20 million which is crazy great for a foreign language title. We think it's going to end up being the biggest foreign-language hit since Pan's Labyrinth which earned $37.6 domestically but at a time when the market was easier for subtitled features so that's truly staggering. To put things into context the "big" foreign hits that the media obsesses over and that end up in the Oscar mix tend to be around the size of Pain and Glory which is Pedro's best performing film both domestically ($3.4) and internationally ($35.6) since Volver.
Oddly movie studios are giving most of the current movies a wide wide berth to earn more money next week. Barely anything opens next week apart from a screen or 4 to literally dozens of tiny indies, including one sadly abandoned until 2020 "qualifying release" (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) and two higher profile soon-to-be-streaming titles (Marriage Story and The Aeronauts) that won't be reporting grosses so you'll just have to trust anecdotal evidence from people you know about whether or not anyone is seeing them in theaters.
On December 13th, though, it's totally chaos again. From then on there are major wide releases as well as high profile limited releases opening constantly until Clemency closes out the theatrical release year on December 27th.
Monday, December 2, 2019 at 10:18PM 
Reader Comments (21)
Excellent week for me. I saw:
KNIVES OUT - As delightful as promised, especially for fans of whodunnits. The structure was not what I expected at all and it threw me off for most of it - the red herrings are mostly the audience's familiarity with the genre. More of these please.
MARRIAGE STORY - The screenplay was a bit more sitcom-y than I expected and I was disappointed the endless festival circuit spoiled so many of the big moments, but otherwise, this hit very hard. Adam Driver and ScarJo are tremendous and they are gifted with so many memorable monologues. I can't wait to rewatch once it hits Netflix.
1917 - It doesn't have much more to say than "war is hell" and seems intended mostly as an immersive experience, but the craft is astounding. I gave up on finding the hidden cuts and found myself completely swept away. I have absolutely no clue how they pulled this off - a major Roger Deakins flex. The Academy will go crazy over this.
I also saw KNIVES OUT and 1917. I wanted to like both so much that maybe I set my expectations too high? In the end I was a bit underwhelmed.
1917 is a technical marvel with its editing, yes, but to this unsophisticate its craft didn't seem to build terribly on what we've seen in Birdman or hell, even Russian Ark. What I craved from the movie is what it sorely lacked: emotion. The best bit for me (not a spoiler) was the scene where the company about to go into battle listens to a fellow soldier croon "Poor Wayfaring Stranger." The quiet before the storm.
Also finally caught BEATS PER MINUTE on World AIDS Day. There but for the grace of God go I.
Knives Out - has its moments I guess, mostly from Daniel Craig and Toni Collette, and a running joke about not knowing where the nurse came from. But overall, a mediocrity much too impressed with itself.
Also saw Teorema by Pasolini again after a long time. Still the gayest film ever made. There's never been another movie like it.
@JamesFromAmes - I don't disagree with you at all about the film lacking emotion - that's its major problem for me as well. I thought the one-take gimmick worked far better in this than in Birdman - it was a much stronger match with the material and the approach. Russian Ark is still one of my major blind spots (and it's actually in one take too - wow).
I saw “Knives Out”.
Three times.
It’s a great movie for group outings, and remains fun in repeat viewings (maybe even more fun).
SAG Ensemble: The SAG rule is that you can’t be included in the ensemble nomination unless you have a title card of your own, just your name and not shared. Well, “Knives Out” has 16 actors with their own title card, so even Noah Segan as the endearing Trooper Wagner is included. 16! So much nicer than ensembles where only 3 or 4 actors are eligible. And I loved this ensemble.
A super busy film weekend for me!
First, I had the quintessential Nathaniel experience. Showing up to a theater early expecting a sell out, but I was the only one there. I can't believe I was the only one to show for the first L.A. showing of France's Oscar submission, Les Miserables!!! What is wrong with humanity? I thought this film was so smart and didn't regret my decision in the least to see it at the first opportunity. Also tops on my list this weekend was Waves, which blew me way -- especially aurally.
Also caught up with:
Playing with Fire (I raised my 11 year old right -- despite seeing it at his desire, he turned to me 30 minutes in and said "this movie is terrible")
Arctic -- if you are into survival tales, this one will capture you
Knives Out -- I love Toni Collette and Jamie Lee Curtis so much
Retablo -- this movie broke my heart
JoJo Rabbit -- I can't think of a single reason for this movie to exist
Dark Water -- important, solid, would have been improved with Viola Davis in the lead
Official Secrets -- Keira has really grown on me this decade
The Chambermaid -- I appreciated seeing a point of view often absent from film and I was bored.
For Sama -- the best of this year's Syrian docs (though all are compelling with different enough perspectives to be essential)
Honey Boy -- pretty darn entertaining
The Irishman -- echo everyone's complaints about the misses with technology, and especially that the actors still moved like 80 year olds no matter their age; still totally entertaining
Recorder: The Marian Stokes Project -- probably could have been a doc short, but the four screen of 9/11 was deep
The Good Liar: delicious, yet bad (maybe what eating at Chick-FIl-A feels like?)
"Knives Out" - very fun, clever, and thoughtful, if a tad (or more) heavy-handed with the political commentary. Not wild about Johnson's direction - stronger images would have been nice - but it's a tasty treat with a great ensemble and terrific ending. And Frank Oz deserves more attention amidst all the BIG performances. He's wonderful.
"Waves" - truly an emotional wallop, or many wallops. A gorgeous, thrilling work of formalism matched to Melodrama with a capital "M." Excellent performances. Wish it was doing better!
I don’t understand why we’re still surprised when whodunnits do really well!
We’re going with a big group on Thursday, a mystery, a really good cast and a heck of a time at the movies, what’s not to love? Murder on the Orient Express was a bit lame but it did bloody well as well - more please!
I saw Queen & Slim and Waves. Both weren't wholly satisfying but worth experiencing theatrically.
Kelly Garrett -- i bow to your parenting skills. Well done!
Nathaniel, have you seen Jacqueline Susann's Once Is Not Enough? (1975)
My sister & I saw QUEEN AND SLIM, which we adored. I am saving other big movies for Professor Spouse, who went to Kentucky to see her family.
I had a great oldies weekend: Watched BIG NIGHT, A FACE IN THE CROWD, and LADY IN THE LAKE (ugh, skip it).
Knives Out - Great and a lot of fun. Daniel Craig should do more comedies and Ana de Armas carried the film well.
Waves - Shults continues to show promise and the performances are terrific, but melodrama overwhelms the film's overall portrait of a family in crisis.
Dark Waters - Effective but not at all a singular film we have come to expect from Todd Haynes. Still, Mark Ruffalo is very good and Bill Camp should be considered for supporting actor.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood is another one for my best of the year list. I normally hate framing devices, but this one was clever and effective. The silent minute in the middle of the film was incredible and quite daring. Marielle Heller deserves more praise than she gets for her films - she is so humanistic, she feels like she could be a successor to Jonathan Demme.
Last night I watched Atlantics, and I loved it as well. So unexpected and unique, with gorgeous imagery. As with Parasite, I was glad I only had the faintest idea of the film's plot before seeing it.
I don't really get the fervor behind Knives Out. It was entertaining enough, but the characters were drawn very broadly (the perfect immigrant, the evil rich folk) and as big casts go, we've all seen a lot better.
Knives Out, which was excellent, and makes me wish we'd get another Benoit Blanc movie, and just more whodunits of this general style, period. It also makes me crushingly sad that for now the traditional Christies are in the hands of Branagh and his wretched take on Poirot. Knives out also made me wish Collette did more comedy. She's always been great at it.
I also finally caught up with The King which I thought was merely fine until the last third or so of the film made it much more interesting. Not the greatest thing ever by any means, but I liked it more than many reviewers did.
Flying as I was to California, got to view several recent films I had missed at 30,000 ft in the air: Ben is Back (far superior to the very similar Beautiful Boy, with Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges excellent in the leads); Booksmart, which I thought was less good than it should have been, though I loved Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever together and think they should team up again real soon; and The Dead Don't Die, Jim Jarmusch's pointless zombie apocalypse flick. Don't know what he was thinking w/ that one, after a promising first 15 minutes the rest played out the way flat beer tastes. Also saw in the theater A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - a good movie. Would like to see Hanks nominated for pulling off a *very* tricky role with his usual grace and charm.
The Irishman. Will someone please tell me why the fuck this is good? Or perhaps, don’t, because I really don’t care. Turned it off after an hour or so of boredom or annoyance with DeNiro’s blue eyes and “reverse aging” effects even though he still moves like an old man.
Unbelievable. Merritt Wever, Toni Colette, and Kaitlyn Dever are remarkable actresses. Give them all the awards. Devastating subject matter based on real events. I would rather watch these three in a hundred toilet paper commercials than another second of actorly men in The Irishman.
Harriet and Marriage Story.
My expectations for Harriet had been lowered enough by its chilly festival reception that I found myself able to enjoy it on its own terms. It's painfully by-the-books and never becomes more than the some of its parts, but Cynthia Erivo is showing off extreme skill and magnetism, and the film's visual elements are stunning. The credits song, co-written by Erivo, is also a knockout. Could she be the second consecutive person to lose Best Actress and win Best Song in the same ceremony?
I adored Marriage Story. I agree with chasm301--I can't help but wish I had gone in unspoiled re: the film's marquee moments, but they hit big nonetheless. Flawless performances in a deep ensemble. Fascinatingly theatrical staging for many of its long shots. I'm emotionally prepared for Laura Dern's march to Oscar.
I saw The Farewell, which I quite liked. I was a bit underwhelmed by Awkwafina, though.
I saw "Dolemite is my Name", which I thought was really enjoyable. Murphy is great, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph is so charming.
I also saw "Jojo Rabbit" and thought the funny parts (e.g. the rapid cut montage of Sam Rockwell firing guns at various targets to impress small children) really worked for me, and I also liked the way many of the initial scenes with Thomasin Mackenzie were filmed in the style of a horror movie, but I don't know that all the disparate tones came together. I spent a lot of time thinking about what the movie was trying to do and how, and whether it was succeeding, which is usually a sign for me that it's somewhere in the range of not working at all to not quite working completely.
Queen and Slim - this was a mixed bag for me, but more positive than negative. The two main actors were great, but much of their decision making felt illogical. Some powerful scenes and some hokey scenes, but altogether a good film.
The Report - This was good, but not great. It came off more as a documentary rather than a dramatic film. As a documentary exercise it was very interesting and gave me insight into issues I was not aware. Maybe dial back a bit on the procedural aspects and give a little more insight into the main character and it would have made for a stronger film.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood - Really enjoyed this film, buoyed by Hanks performance who captured the essence of Fred Rogers without necessarily being a perfect imitation. I appreciated the film not being centered on Fred Rogers himself and more his affect on others as we already got the documentary just last year. It was a fresh take and strong acting across the board, found it quite emotional.