The first weekend of the year brought great box office news for many of the films currently playing in theatres.
In its third weekend of release, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle continues to be a massive success, actually bumping Star Wars: The Last Jedi out of the top spot. I am completely astonished by how incredibly well this film is doing. This is a sequel (though not really) to a hit film from 1995, and that’s when I was a kid. This is by no means a brand with name recognition for a whole new generation of kids, but somehow it’s become a runaway critical and word-of-mouth smash. Just three weeks into its run, the film has already grossed more than 250% of its predecessor’s total gross — and it’s not slowing down any time soon. It even boasts much stronger reviews than the original film, and that one starred Robin Williams at the height of his movie stardom. Just amazing.
The weekend’s only new release, Insidious: The Last Key opened very strongly at #2. Despite rather poor reviews, this fourth installment in the Insidious series had the second-largest opening in franchise history and proves that — even if reviews suggest that these films are running out of steam — audiences are hungrier than ever for haunted house stories, and specifically for Elise Rainier and her crew. Horror films tends to drop off quickly, but even if this one does, it’s already turned a huge profit. This film is a hit, and no matter how it fares in future weeks, that won’t change.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi slid down to the #3 spot. I don’t really know what there is to be said that hasn’t already been said. The revival of this franchise is a cultural phenomenon. This new installment is one of the most giant hits ever, though still not as giant as The Force Awakens was two years ago.
At #4, The Greatest Showman is continuing its rather odd path to success. Following a disappointing opening weekend, the film actually grew in Week 2 — and now it barely slipped in Week 3. The musical is my favourite genre, and these are very reassuring results. The more money musicals make, the more musicals will be made. This one looked like a flop in its first weekend, but it’s suddenly now on track to turn a profit within the next couple of weeks.
Pitch Perfect 3 came in at #5, a bigger hit than the first installment but nowhere close to the heights reached by the second. Ferdinand, the latest animated feature from Blue Sky Studios, slipped a spot to #6. With a cumulative gross of just over $70 million after four weeks, this is certainly seen as a disappointment.
Meanwhile, Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut Molly’s Game expanded to wide release this weekend and landed modestly at #7. Awards buzz over the next few weeks might help this one stick around longer than this would otherwise suggest. At #8, Darkest Hour was steady, bringing its total to just under $30 million. With star Gary Oldman’s Best Actor win at the Golden Globes — and his frontrunner status to repeat at the Oscars — watch this film stick around for a bit.
Coco, meanwhile, ended the weekend at #9, which is on the low end for a Pixar film. And, at #10, Ridley Scott’s All the Money in the World slipped three spots, looking likely to tumble out of the Top 10 for good next week. It would seem that that the shocking and unprecedented replacement of Kevin Spacey by Christopher Plummer just weeks before release did little to attract the average filmgoer. The positive but not especially passionate reviews probably didn’t help.
| TW | LW | Title | Gross (est.) | Cumulative (est.) | Weeks in Release |
| 1 | 2 | Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | $36,000,000 | $244,372,666 | 3 |
| 2 | N | Insidious: The Last Key | $29,265,000 | $29,265,000 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Star Wars: The Last Jedi | $23,551,000 | $572,513,602 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | The Greatest Showman | $13,800,000 | $75,904,372 | 3 |
| 5 | 3 | Pitch Perfect 3 | $10,225,000 | $85,984,090 | 3 |
| 6 | 5 | Ferdinand | $7,730,000 | $70,499,118 | 4 |
| 7 | 13 | Molly’s Game | $7,000,000 | $14,216,560 | 2 |
| 8 | 8 | Darkest Hour | $6,355,000 | $29,393,107 | 7 |
| 9 | 6 | Coco | $5,539,000 | $192,081,961 | 7 |
| 10 | 7 | All the Money in the World | $3,550,000 | $20,131,909 | 2 |
Source: Box Office Mojo
What did you see this weekend?
