Weekend Box Office (January 10 - 12, 2020)
THIS WEEKEND Universal capitalized on the right heat at the right time with its war film 1917 which expanded nationwide right after winning double Golden Globes for Best Picture - Drama and Best Director and hit number one with an estimated $36.5M. January films don't often break $30M so this was a terrific result. The average was a stellar $10,629 from 3,434 locations.
Reviews have been strong, awards buzz is hot, and word of mouth has been very positive too. Plus Oscar nominations will be announced on Monday morning and many nods are expected for 1917, with Best Picture being likely. All of this will lead to a prolonged run at the box office for the next few weeks on its way well past the $100M mark.
Following its three-week reign atop the box office, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dropped down to second and took in an estimated $15.1M. The total after 24 days is $478.2M which is huge, but is also down 41% from The Force Awakens and down 17% compared to The Last Jedi after the same amount of time. Given the different holiday calendars, this 24-day total includes the full holiday season runs and make for a fair comparison.
A domestic final in the $520M range seems likely. Overseas markets have contributed $511.4M to date for a new global tally of $989.6M. Later this week, Episode IX will become the seventh 2019 release from Disney to break $1 billion - a new industry record.
Jumanji: The Next Level spent its fifth weekend in the top three and grossed an estimated $14M falling 47%. The Sony blockbuster sequel has collected $257.1M thus far and is shooting for that $300M mark.
The comedy Like A Boss delivered a respectable debut with an estimated $10M from 3,078 locations for a $3,249 average. Reviews for the R-rated film were quite negative and Paramount reached an audience that was 60% female and 65% over 25.
The criminal injustice drama Just Mercy expanded nationwide after two weeks of limited play and generated moderately good numbers with an estimated $10M weekend. Averaging a good $4,211 from 2,375 locations, the PG-13 film starring Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx earned strong reviews and has generated electric word-of-mouth with its A+ grade from CinemaScore. Warner Bros. hopes that solid buzz will help it remain popular next weekend over the long MLK holiday frame.
Sony's Little Women dropped 44% to an estimated $7.7M lifting the cume to $74M so far. It is counting on some Oscar nominations on Monday, possibly Best Picture, to keep it going over the weeks ahead.
The new thriller Underwater did not energize too many moviegoers opening to an estimated $7M from 2,791 locations for a mild $2,509 average. Fox's PG-13 film starring Kristen Stewart earned mixed reviews.
November holdover Frozen II grabbed an estimated $5.8M, down 51%, for a robust $459.4M domestic, a massive $912M international, and $1.37 billion worldwide and counting.
Mystery hit Knives Out held up well again dipping 36% to an estimated $5.7M giving Lionsgate a solid $139.6M to date. An Oscar nod would help keep things going a little longer. Toon Spies in Disguise rounded out the top ten with an estimated $5.1M, down 51%, for $54.6M overall.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $116.8M which was up 21% from last year when The Upside opened at number one with $20.4M; but down 10% from 2018 when Jumanji stayed in the top spot on what was the MLK holiday frame with $28.1M over three days.
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| # | Title | Jan 10 - 12 | Jan 3 - 5 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | Distributor |
| 1 | 1917 | $ 37,000,200 | $ 617,697 | 3,434 | 3 | $ 10,775 | $ 39,721,479 | Universal | |
| 2 | Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker | 15,187,034 | 34,524,815 | -56.0 | 4,279 | 4 | 3,549 | 478,297,724 | Disney |
| 3 | Jumanji: The Next Level | 14,005,131 | 26,227,346 | -46.6 | 3,904 | 5 | 3,587 | 257,130,112 | Sony |
| 4 | Like A Boss | 10,011,272 | 3,078 | 1 | 3,253 | 10,011,272 | Paramount | ||
| 5 | Just Mercy | 9,713,228 | 2,375 | 3 | 4,090 | 10,149,216 | Warner Bros. | ||
| 6 | Little Women | 7,801,393 | 13,612,373 | -42.7 | 3,216 | 3 | 2,426 | 74,182,402 | Sony |
| 7 | Underwater | 7,008,297 | 2,791 | 1 | 2,511 | 7,008,297 | Fox | ||
| 8 | Frozen II | 5,910,150 | 11,854,169 | -50.1 | 2,655 | 8 | 2,226 | 459,533,192 | Disney |
| 9 | Knives Out | 5,624,899 | 8,916,416 | -36.9 | 2,060 | 7 | 2,731 | 139,521,643 | Lionsgate |
| 10 | Spies in Disguise | 5,173,337 | 10,396,460 | -50.2 | 2,671 | 3 | 1,937 | 54,681,766 | Fox |
| 11 | The Grudge | 3,515,180 | 11,404,113 | -69.2 | 2,642 | 2 | 1,330 | 17,921,895 | Sony |
| 12 | Uncut Gems | 3,354,619 | 7,570,205 | -55.7 | 2,081 | 5 | 1,612 | 43,321,291 | A24 |
| 13 | Sarileru Neekevvaru (est) | 1,630,000 | 296 | 1 | 5,507 | 1,630,000 | Great India | ||
| 14 | Bombshell | 1,445,588 | 4,084,056 | -64.6 | 1,289 | 4 | 1,121 | 27,893,811 | Lionsgate |
| 15 | Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo (est) | 1,425,000 | 180 | 1 | 7,917 | 1,425,000 | Blue Sky | ||
| 16 | Parasite | 954,309 | 838,276 | 13.8 | 345 | 14 | 2,766 | 25,357,045 | Neon |
| 17 | Darbar (est) | 780,000 | 186 | 1 | 4,194 | 1,430,000 | PrimeMedia | ||
| 18 | Ford v Ferrari | 762,947 | 1,706,499 | -55.3 | 567 | 9 | 1,346 | 111,418,552 | Fox |
| 19 | Tanhaji | 695,000 | 179 | 1 | 3,883 | 695,000 | Viva | ||
| 20 | Cats | 559,260 | 2,630,135 | -78.7 | 818 | 4 | 684 | 26,398,685 | Universal |
| Top 5 | $ 85,916,865 | $ 97,622,816 | -12.0 | ||||||
| Top 10 | 117,434,941 | 131,220,088 | -10.5 | ||||||
| Top 20 | 132,556,844 | 140,764,674 | -5.8 | ||||||
| Top 20 vs. 2019 | 132,556,844 | 114,734,996 | 15.5 |
Last Updated: January 12, 2020 at 12:20PM ET
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