Last "Regular" Weekend Box Office Report of the Year!

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 (ESTIMATES)  🔺 = new or expanding / ★ = recommended
WIDE RELEASE (800+ screens)	PLATFORM TITLES
1 🔺  JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL  $60 *new*	1 PARASITE $632k on 306 screens (cum. $20.3 PODCAST, CLASS, BONG, SAG CAST★

2 FROZEN II $19.1 (cum. $366.5) REVIEW	2 🔺 UNCUT GEMS $525k on 5 screens *new*  REVIEW ★

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"Dark Waters" flood in but everything is still "Frozen"

This weekend Frozen II easily stayed up top and will soon vault over Joker which has been out for a month and a half longer in the box office sweepstakes. We share that only so you can marvel at how quickly the royal family of Arendelle is collecting taxes from their subjects (aka everyone on planet Earth). In other news Dark Waters expanded into wide release. Murtada reviewed it for us and let's just say that I think he was very kind (as several reviews have been). It felt like it twice the length of The Irishman with no shaping, rhythm, visual style, or verve -- completely mystified that it's a Todd Haynes film shot by Ed Lachmann and acted by Ruffalo and Hathaway who are both fairly generic in it. What happened?

Weekend Box Office [Estimates] Dec 6th-8th 🔺 = New or Expanding / ★ = Recommended
W I D E	PLATFORM
1 FROZEN II $34.6 (cum. $337.5) REVIEW	1 PARASITE $700k on 333 screens (cum. $19.3) PODCAST, CLASS, BONG ★
2 KNIVES OUT $16 (cum. $57.9) REVIEW, WHODUNNITS?, ANA DE ARMAS ★	2 JOJO RABBIT $562k on 579 screens (cum. $19.2) CAPSULE, PODCAST
3  FORD V FERRARI  $6.5 (cum. $91.1)  REVIEW, PODCAST ★	3 🔺  HONEY BOY $452k on 460 screens (cum. $2.1)  REVIEW, PODCAST ★
4 QUEEN & SLIM $6.5 (cum. $26.8)	4 🔺  WAVES $421k on 570 screens (cum. $1.0) REVIEW, 2ND OPINION ★
5 A BEAUTIFUL DAY...  $5.2 (cum. $43.1) CAPSULE, PODCAST, TOM HANKS ★	5 NO SAFE SPACES $292k on 200 screens (cum. $749k)
5 🔺 DARK WATERS $4.1 (cum. $5.2) REVIEW	6 🔺 PANIPAT $282k on 172 screens *new*

WHAT DID YOU SEE THIS WEEKEND? 

What did you see over the long Thanksgiving weekend?

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)	PLATFORM TITLES
1  FROZEN II  $85.9 (cum. $288.8) REVIEW	1  JOJO RABBIT $1.2 on 730 screens (cum. $18.3) TIFF WIN, PODCAST ★

2 🔺 KNIVES OUT $26.7 (cum. $41.4) REVIEW, WHODUNNITS ★	2 PARASITE  $1.0 on 382 screens (cum. $18.2) PODCAST, CLASS, BONG ★

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Frozen II enjoys a mammoth opening weekend.

Did you see Frozen II this weekend? Everyone else did. It grossed a whopping $127 million. The big 'Let it Go' successor is "Into the Unknown" but clearly audiences are still very much into the "known" every weekend at the box office -- sequels continue to pack movie houses. Meanwhile Parasite and JoJo Rabbit and Pain and Glory, three success stories of platform releasing, all started to wane this weekend. They're now losing screens and momentum after two months of growth. Precursor awards and top ten lists and year end hoopla basically begins after Thanksgiving so if they're lucky they'll get a strong second wind. We'll see. 

Sadly the superb Mr Rogers picture, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, opened somewhat quietly with only $13.5 million in wide release (which seems low for Tom Hanks). GO SEE IT, IT'S AMAZING. 

Weekend Box Office [Estimates] Nov 22nd-24th 🔺 = New or Expanding / ★ = Recommended
W I D E	PLATFORM / SPECIALTY TITLES
1 🔺  FROZEN II $127 *new* REVIEW	1 JOJO RABBIT $1.5 on 797 screens (cum. $16) ★
2 FORD V FERRARI $16 (cum. $57.9)  REVIEW, PODCAST ★	2 PARASITE $1.2 on 433 screens (cum. $16.4) PODCAST, CLASS, BONG ★
3 🔺  A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD  $13.5 *new* ★	3 🔺  HONEY BOY $269k on 44 screens (cum. $939K)  REVIEW, PODCAST ★
4 🔺 21 BRIDGES  $9.3 *new*	4 🔺  WAVES $168k on 21 screens (cum. $335k) REVIEW, 2ND OPINION ★
5 MIDWAY $4.7 (cum. $43.1)	5 PAIN AND GLORY $135k on 217 screens (cum. $3.3) REVIEW, PODCAST ★

Parasite's loot and other Palme d'Or winner returns

Let's marvel again at the success of Parasite in US release, but this time in the context of Palme d'Or winners. Parasite is just one notch away from being the 10 highest grossing Cannes winner of all time (at least as far as contemporary box office reporting goes). It's already the most successful Palme d'Or winner of all time among the non-English language winners. 

Box office figures aren't readily available before the 1970s so we started in 1970 -- there are a few winners since then with no US box office results which means they either weren't ever released in the US or were somehow not reported. It's also worth noting that these numbers are not adjusted for inflation so we're assuming that either MASH or Apocalypse Now which bookended the 1970s would actually top the list as the highest grossing Palme d'Or winner ever. Figures are only domestic (USA) totals.

TOP GROSSING PALME D'OR WINNERS IN THE U.S.
figures as of January 26th, 2020

1. Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) $119.1
2. Pulp Fiction (1994) $107.9
3. Apocalypse Now (1979) $83.4
4. MASH (1970) $81.6...

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