Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle continued to be the King of the North America box office over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The Sony smash had no trouble holding off the solid nationwide expansion of Fox’s The Post or the moderate debuts of The Commuter, Paddington 2 and Proud Mary.
Figures reported in this article are for the Friday to Sunday period.
There’s no slowing down the Jumanji express as the Sony blockbuster earned an estimated $27 million from 3,849 theaters, a 28% decrease from last week. After one month of release, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has commanded a massive $283 million so far.
Within the next two weeks, the Jake Kasdan feature should pass the $337 million brought in by last summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming to become Sony’s biggest 2017 release. Overseas, Jumanji has earned a great $383 million so far.
Fox used the MLK holiday frame to successfully launch its award contender The Post nationwide following a successful year-end limited run. Jumping from 36 to 2,819 theaters, The Post printed up an estimated $18.6 million this weekend. After one month of overall release, the $50 million Tom Hanks/Meryl Streep drama has brought in $23 million.
Liam Neeson’s latest action flick The Commuter pulled into third place with an estimated $13.45 million from 2,892 stops. The Lionsgate release -the latest pairing of the actor and director Jaume Collet-Serra-, was met with a collective shrug from both the public and the press. Critics gave the new film a 56% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and a 56/100 from Metacritic while ticket buyers gave The Commuter a middling “B” on CinemaScore.
Universal’s Insidious: The Last Key took the typical horror film swan dive in its second round -59%, to be precise- on 3,150 screens to earn an estimated $12.1 million. After ten days, the low-budget horror flick has banked $48.3 million so far and should finish with approximately $65 million. Overseas, the latest Blumhouse Production has earned $44 million.
Rounding out the top five was Fox’s musical hit The Greatest Showman with $11.8 million from 2,938 venues. Off only 14% -the best hold in the top ten-, Showman’s new domestic haul is $94.5 million. The Hugh Jackman film should hit the $100 million milestone by the end of this upcoming week. The $84 million production crossed that threshold this weekend overseas.
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Disney) $11.2 million (-52%); $591.5 million
With $1.265 billion now in the bank, the latest Star Wars flick became the biggest global release of 2017 this weekend.
- Paddington 2 (Warner) $10.6 million (NEW)
The reviews were great for the sequel to the 2014 family hit -100% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 89/100 from Metacritic-, but audiences in the States just didn’t seem to be interested. Those that did show up gave the film an “A” on CinemaScore, which could help the sequel gain some traction over the next few weekends.
- Proud Mary (Screen Gems) $10 million (NEW)
The Taraji P. Henson action thriller wasn’t screened in advance for critics nor was it extensively advertised. The result was a muted eighth place debut on 2,125 screens for the $14 million production.
- Pitch Perfect 3 (Universal) $5.6 million (-45%); $95 million
- Darkest Hour (Focus) $4.5 million (-25%); $36 million
Next weekend sees the arrival of the military drama 12 Strong, the crime thriller Den of Thieves, the drama Forever My Girl and the national expansion of the Christian Bale drama Hostiles. Depending on how well it holds up, Jumanji may once again be the nation’s number one film.
