Weekend Wrap-Up

by Tim Briody

December 3, 2017

Grandparents rule.

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While not the worst weekend of the box office year, the most depressing weekend at multiplexes is here as Hollywood takes the weekend after Thanksgiving off and everything collapses following the holiday weekend boost.

Coco is again the top film of the weekend, as the Disney/Pixar production earns $26.1 million for the weekend, down 49%, giving it $108.6 million since its day before Thanksgiving release. That’s right in line with the recent Disney animated releases for the post-Turkey Day weekend, as last year Moana dropped 50% and Frozen took a 53% hit. That’s good news, and it needs two more weekends of decent holds (look for a much smaller drop next weekend, Frozen fell 29% and Moana 34%) to be a major player as well as go into the holiday box office season. Right now, Coco is on the lower end of Pixar earners (it will only have passed The Good Dinosaur next weekend), but there’s no reason it can’t stick it out to the $200 million mark.

Justice League holds in second as it drops another 60% to $16.5 million, and $197.3 million after three weekends. Hey, remember last week when I said it’d cross $200 million by the end the following weekend? How young and naive I was. There will be books and dissertations written on why Wonder Woman succeeded and Justice League failed. And we can only hope that people learn their lessons (my guess is no.) It’s going to continue to free fall and with Star Wars just two weeks away, Justice League will be one of the biggest losers when screens need to be freed up. $250 million seems to be a best case right now, and that might still be too high.

Back to good box office news, Wonder earns another $12.5 million (down 45% from last weekend) and now has $88 million after three weekends in theaters. It’s looking to cross $100 million next weekend, which is something nobody was saying a month ago. Impressive work from Lionsgate with this one.

Thor: Ragnarok adds $9.6 million in its fifth weekend as the Marvel film dips 43% from the holiday weekend and creeps closer to $300 million with $291.4 million to date. The MCU continues to be the Gallant to DC’s Goofus, as fans are already awaiting February’s Black Panther and got an early Christmas present with the release of the trailer for May’s Avengers: Infinity War.




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The amusing story (to box office pundits anyway) of Daddy’s Home 2 vs. Murder on the Orient Express continues as the comedy sequel earns $7.5 million while the Agatha Christie adaptation adds $6.7 million in both films’ fourth weekend in theaters. The interesting fact is that while Daddy’s Home 2 has beaten Murder on the Orient Express in each of the four weekends, Murder has earned $84.7 million while Daddy’s Home 2 has earned $82.8 million. The Branagh film passed Daddy’s Home 2 the Tuesday after release and hasn’t looked back It’s a small but interesting case study in the moviegoing habits of different audiences. Both films are hoping to reach $100 million, but at this point, it’s going to be pretty close.

Two Oscar contenders expanding into wide release tie for seventh place, as Lady Bird earns $4.5 million in 1,194 theaters and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri also earns $4.5 million in 1,430 theaters. The Greta Gerwig written and directed Lady Bird has now earned $17 million (bringing it closer to being A24’s most successful film ever) while Fox Searchlight’s Three Billboards has earned $13.6 million. Both films are widely considered likely Best Picture nominees according to most pundits, with other nominations also likely, and continue to build momentum as the end of the year approaches and other big name films hit wide release.

The Star hangs onto ninth with another $4 million and $27.2 million in three weekends. It’s heading to a total of $40 million, about twice its production budget, so it’s a small win for Sony.

A Bad Moms Christmas makes it to December with $3.4 million and $64.8 million in five weekends. The Bad Moms sequel released a month too early is still far away from the $113 earned by last year’s first film. It’s looking at $75 million total, which is fine, but there’s definitely the feeling of money left on the table here by STX Entertainment.

Just outside of the top ten is The Disaster Artist, earning $1.2 million in just 19, uh, rooms. The movie about the making of the cult classic The Room is reported to expand to 800 theaters next weekend.

It was another down weekend at the box office, as the top 12 films earned $94.2 million compared to last year’s $113.4 million, still led by Moana and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Next week looks to be a lot of the same, as there’s not much going on besides The Disaster Artist’s expansion, as it’s the proverbial quiet before the Star Wars.


Top Ten for Weekend of December 1-3, 2017
Rank
Film
Distributor
Estimated
Gross ($)
Weekly Change
Cumulative
Gross ($)
1 Coco Walt Disney 26.1 -49% 108.6
2 Justice League Warner Bros. 16.5 -60% 197.3
3 Wonder Lionsgate 12.5 -45% 88.0
4 Thor: Ragnarok Walt Disney 9.6 -43% 291.4
5 Daddy's Home 2 Paramount 7.5 -43% 82.8
6 Murder on the Orient Express 20th Century Fox 6.7 -49% 84.7
7 Lady Bird A24 4.5 +12% 17.0
8 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Fox Searchlight 4.5 +3% 13.6
9 The Star Sony 4.0 -42% 27.2
10 A Bad Moms Christmas STX Entertainment 3.4 -29% 64.8

     


 
 

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