Star Wars: The Last Jedi Delivers Second Largest Opening Ever
by Brad Brevet
December 17, 2017


Star Wars: The Last Jedi delivered on expectations, debuting with the second largest opening weekend of all-time and propelling the box office to the third largest weekend ever based on estimates.

In an attempt at counter-programming, Fox's Ferdinand got off to a bit of a slow start against the might of Star Wars as well as the continued strong performance of Pixar's Coco as it fell below Mojo's expectations, though the studio is optimistic when it comes to the film's future.







With an estimated $220 million, Star Wars: The Last Jedi delivered the second largest opening weekend ever behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which debuted with $247.9 million back in 2015.

The Last Jedi got off to a strong start on Thursday night with the second largest preview gross ever of $45 million and became only the second film to ever gross over $100 million on opening day resulting in the second largest opening day ever, second largest single day, second largest Friday and joins The Force Awakens as the fastest films to reach $100 million.

Internationally, The Last Jedi delivered an estimated $230 million overseas, which is the tenth largest overall international opening of all-time and the fifth largest global debut ever with $450 million.







Finishing in second is Fox's release of Blue Sky's latest animated feature, Ferdinand, which delivered an estimated $13.3 million from 3,621 locations. This is the lowest opening ever for a Blue Sky release, falling well behind the $21.3 million opening for Ice Age: Collision Course last year before it went on to gross $64 million domestically.

Looking ahead, Ferdinand received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and the studio is optimistic about the film's future due to K-12 schools yet to be dismissed for end of year holidays and thanks to the film's 54% uptick from Friday to Saturday. By comparison, the film's opening is relatively similar to the $14.2 million opening for Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, which attempted to offer some counter-programming when it opened against The Force Awakens back in 2015. The studio was similarly optimistic after Alvin saw 39% growth on Saturday. Road Chip went on to gross just over $85 million.

Internationally, Ferdinand brought in an estimated $6.2 million from 18 markets for a $19.5 million global debut.







Disney and Pixar's Coco finished third with an estimated $9.7 million, pushing the film's gross over $150 million domestically.

Coco also added another $27.4 million internationally this weekend pushing its global cume just shy of $450 million.







Lionsgate's Wonder continued its strong performance, grossing an estimated $5.4 million this weekend bringing its domestic gross just shy of $110 million.

The film also added another $9.4 million internationally this weekend as it crossed the $150 million mark globally.







Rounding out the top five is Warner Bros. and DC Comics' Justice League, which pulled in an estimated $4.1 million as its domestic cume is now just shy of $220 million.

Additionally, the film added an estimated $5.3 million from 65 markets this weekend, pushing its international cume to $414.5 million for a global tally north of $634 million.







Elsewhere in the top ten, A24's The Disaster Artist suffered a steep drop, delivering just $2.6 million this weekend from 1,010 locations (+170). The 59% drop is far more than expected after its strong expansion last weekend.

The film's domestic cume now totals $12.9 million.







Just outside the top ten, Fox Searchlight's release of The Shape of Water expanded to 158 theaters (+117) this weekend and brought in an estimated $1.7 million for a $11,000 per theater average.

The film's domestic gross now stands at $3.6 million after three weeks in limited release with the stage set for the film's upcoming expansion into ~750 theaters next weekend.







In limited release, GKIDS' Birdboy opened with $5,684 from four theaters ($1,421 PTA) and A24's The Ballad of Lefty Brown brought in an estimated $6,115 from two theaters ($3,058 PTA).

Also notable is Sony Classics' expansion of Call Me By Your Name into 30 theaters (+21) where it grossed $491,933 for a $16,398 per theater average and Neon's I, Tonya, only added one theater and still brought in $176,189 from five locations for a $35,238 average.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4354&p=.htm









December 15-17, 2017 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi $220,047,000
2. Ferdinand $13,325,000
3. Coco $10,025,000 / $150,810,896
4. Wonder $5,400,000 / $109,256,738
5. Justice League $4,170,000 / $219,456,347
6. Daddy's Home 2 $3,800,000 / $96,579,982
7. Thor: Ragnarok $2,981,000 / $306,375,120
8. The Disaster Artist $2,636,908 / $12,932,039
9. Murder on the Orient Express $2,470,000 / $97,252,742
10. Lady Bird $2,108,117 / $25,977,506

It did as well as expected.

Too bad it was the last Jedi, so no more Star Wars movies :(

why im not surprised!!

I have no interest seeing this............

My daughter and I might be going to see it again after Christmas, this would only be my second viewing of it, but my daughter's 4th.:lol:

The Last Jedi Becomes 2017's Highest Grossing Release over New Year's Frame
by Brad Brevet
December 28, 2017


The last two times New Year's Day fell on a Monday were 2000 and, most recently, 2006. Both instances saw films in the top ten show significant growth over the weekend prior. Similarly, if we were to look at the years 2001, 2007 and 2012, where New Year's Day fell on Tuesday, we again see strong performances though 2001 shows The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring dipping in its second weekend and 2012 shows The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey dropping in its third.

Similar to this year's holiday leader, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, both of those films still topped the weekend box office, all of which aided in our attempt to make sense out of what to expect over this final weekend in 2017.







Star Wars: The Last Jedi once again finished #1 for a third weekend in a row. While the latest installment in the franchise saw a slightly steeper than we expected last weekend, the fact Christmas fell on a Monday played a big factor in that three-day dip.

Right now we're looking at a drop around 18-21% and a three-day weekend around $57 million as Last Jedi will end the weekend as the highest grossing domestic release of 2017, topping Beauty and the Beast, which has held the top spot for the majority of the year.







Second place belongs to Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle which played similarly to Mojo's expectations last weekend, debuting with $36.4 million over the three-day and topping $72 million in its first six days in release.

The fact Jumanji began on a Wednesday means we aren't expecting to see that kind of performance out of the family friendly title, but the film's "A-" CinemaScore and top-line talent does have us anticipating a jump this weekend, making a weekend in the high $30 millions a good possibility if not creeping over $40 million for the three-day.







Universal's Pitch Perfect 3 also performed as expected last weekend and audiences seemed to enjoy it, giving the film an "A-" CinemaScore to match its predecessor.

Pitch Perfect 3 should see a little growth this weekend if not perform on par with its opening. Right now we see it delivering around $21 million for its sophomore frame pushing the film toward $70 million domestic.







Fox rounded out the top five with The Greatest Showman and Ferdinand in that order with Showman showing a slight uptick as it adds a little over 300 theaters.

Our three day expectations for the Hugh Jackman-led musical is right around $10 million followed by Ferdinand with an $8 million performance, pushing the animated film toward $50 million domestic.







Outside the top five, one tough title to forecast is the second weekend for Alexander Payne's Downsizing, which delivered a disappointing $4.9 million this past weekend and $7.6 million for the four-day. Audiences appeared turned off by the picture as well, giving at a "C" CinemaScore.

So what to make of this weekend? Given the meager opening there isn't too far for it to go, which leads us to anticipate a flat performance, if not a slight drop, anywhere from $4-5 million.







Rounding out the top ten, look for last weekend's two expansions, Darkest Hour and The Shape of Water, to hang tough as both films add a few more theaters over the holiday frame.

We'll also be keeping an eye on TriStar's All the Money in the World, which opened on Christmas Day and is getting its first taste of the weekend box office this Friday. The film opened in 2,074 locations and is holding steady with that count this weekend. We're anticipating a $3+ million three-day performance.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4356&p=.htm









December 29-31, 2017 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi $52,446,000 / $517,144,228
2. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle $50,570,000 / $169,825,967
3. Pitch Perfect 3 $17,780,000 / $64,268,470
4. The Greatest Showman $15,270,000 / $48,785,986
5. Ferdinand $11,650,000 / $53,810,105
6. Coco $6,572,000 / $178,944,459
7. All the Money in the World $5,450,000 / $12,610,000
8. Darkest Hour $5,280,000 / $17,926,287
9. Downsizing $4,600,000 / $17,058,365
10. Father Figures $3,705,000 / $12,740,000