"Jumanji: The Next Level" Opens at $60M

[JamesG]

Jumanji: The Next Level Roars to $60M Opening while A24's Uncut Gems Delivers Studio Record Debut
by Brad Brevet
Dec. 15, 2019


While the studio attempted to downplay expectations, Sony's Jumanji: The Next Level opened at the top end of industry expectations, leading the weekend charge with a December studio record opening and getting the box office off to a strong start for the holiday frame.

Though, it has to be mentioned, that strong start didn't trickle down to the weekend's two other new wide releases as both Universal and Blumhouse's Black Christmas and WB's Richard Jewell fell well below expectations.







The $60.1 million opening for Jumanji: The Next Level is the 13th largest December opening ever and the largest December debut for Sony. While the film will have to contend next weekend with the release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the opening weekend performance, along with a strong audience reaction; which gave the film an "A-" CinemaScore; puts it in a fantastic position heading into the Christmas holiday frame.

Two years ago Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sat at $52.7 million after its first five days in release and went on to gross over $404 million domestically and nearly $1 billion worldwide, serving as the largest domestic gross in Sony's history. Can the sequel take it to the... next level?

Internationally, The Next Level got its overseas start last weekend and this weekend added 34 new markets for a total of 52, from which it brought in an estimated $85.7 million, pushing its international total to $152.5 million for a $212.6 million global cume.







Slipping to second for the first time since release, Disney's Frozen II brought in an estimated $19.2 million to kick off its fourth week in release, pushing the film's domestic cume to $366.5 million. Added to that, the film's overseas total has now blossomed to $666 million for a global cume totaling $1.032 billion.

This makes Frozen II Disney's sixth $1+ billion global release of 2019 alone.







Third place belongs to Lionsgate's Knives Out, which added an estimated $9.25 million this weekend, pushing the film's domestic cume just shy of $80 million.

In addition to that, the film added another $13.6 million from 73 international markets this weekend for an overseas cume that now stands at an estimated $83.3 million, for a global tally topping $162 million.







Fourth and fifth place belong to the weekend's two other new wide releases, both of which were expected to reach $10+ million, but struggled to hit half that number, both finding a place within the top 50 worst openings ever.

First is WB's Richard Jewell, which opened in just over 2,500 locations with an estimated $5 million. The Clint Eastwood drama was never able to get started and while it received an "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, it seems the abundance of adult-targeted features in theaters right now was just too much to overcome.







Right behind Jewell is Universal and Blumhouse's Black Christmas, a remake of the 1974 holiday horror, and it was only able to muster an estimated $4.4 million from 2,625 locations. While this isn't the worst wide release for Blumhouse ever, it is the second worst wide release for a Blumhouse feature debuting in over 2,000 theaters behind 2015's bust Jem and the Holograms.

And while the film entered the weekend with a 43% score on RottenTomatoes, horror films can typically withstand poor reviews, but audiences seemed to agree, giving the film a "D+" CinemaScore.

Internationally, Black Christmas opened in 37 international territories for a weekend total of $3.1 million.







Elsewhere, A24's limited release of the Safdie brothers' Uncut Gems saw the drama deliver the studio's largest per screen opening average ever, debuting with an estimated $525,498 in five locations for a $105,100 per theater average. The performance ranks as the 26th best opening average all-time.

Looking ahead, the film received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences and will go wide on Christmas day, though we've yet to receive word on just how wide A24 will go with the release.







This weekend also saw Lionsgate release the controversial Fox News drama Bombshell into four theaters in New York and Los Angeles ahead of its nationwide opening next weekend, where it delivered an estimated $312,000 for a $78,000 per theater average.

Additionally, Fox Searchlight's release of Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life had a somewhat muted debut in five locations in NY and LA, bringing in an estimated $52,000 ($10,400 PTA). The film will expand into an additional 47 markets next weekend, bringing the theater count to 90-100 locations.

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/articl...?ref_=bo_ne_nl









December 13-15, 2019: Weekend Studio Estimates


1. Jumanji: The Next Level $60,100,000
2. Frozen II $19,182,000 / $366,542,072
3. Knives Out $9,250,000 / $78,927,248
4. Richard Jewell $5,000,000
5. Black Christmas $4,420,000
6. Ford v Ferrari $4,143,000 / $98,247,794
7. Queen & Slim $3,600,000 / $33,174,870
8. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood $3,355,000 / $49,329,891
9. Dark Waters $2,000,000 / $8,889,174
10. 21 Bridges $1,190,000 / $26,361,366