There was precious little chance for this past weekend to hit the highs of the same frame last year, wherein we received the likes of Fifty Shades Darker, John Wick: Chapter 2, and The LEGO Batman Movie. And, sure enough, it didn’t, running -27.5% behind last year ($136.88 million vs. last year’s $188.59 million). If there’s any solace, none of the new releases completely tanked. So that… that’s a plus, right?
Launching into first, Universal’s Fifty Shades Freed seduced $38.81m from 3,768 hubs ($10,299 per-theatre average), placing -16.8% behind its predecessor, Fifty Shades Darker ($46.61m debut). Universal produced the finale (praise Jesus) for a reasonable $55m, same as Darker. Assuming Freed follows the same holding pattern as the last flick (2.46x multiple), it’s eyeing a $95m+ finish. On surface level, that’s a little disappointing, translating just $10m higher than the debut of 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey ($85.17m), but the fact these sequels haven’t been relative flops – considering one may think of Grey as a “novelty” movie – is something of an achievement. More so when you take into account the chagrin for them.
Internationally, Fifty Shades Freed earned $98.1m from 57 territories for a $136.91m global debut. Freed is pacing roughly -7% behind Darker ($266.55m overseas total) and Valentine’s Day should help ease the blow of Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther this coming weekend. In other news, this global opening has propelled the Fifty Shades films past $1 billion worldwide, if that’s of any interest to you whatsoever. Top overseas debuts for Freed are Germany ($10.7m), the U.K. ($8.8m), France ($8.7m), Italy ($7.2m), and Russia ($6.95m).
Taking second, Sony’s Peter Rabbit leaped to $25m from 3,725 venues ($6,711 average). That’s a healthy start for the $50m-budgeted animation-live action hybrid. Among somewhat rabbit flicks, Peter ranks -33.5% behind 2011’s Hop ($37.54m debut). Among recent genre flicks, this did far better than January’s Paddington 2 ($11m debut). Similar holds (2.88x multiple) to Hop give Peter Rabbit around $72m, but given that Aardman’s upcoming Early Man probably won’t pose much of a threat, and I believe the movie can co-exist against Black Panther, I wager this’ll have better legs.
There are no international numbers to report for Peter Rabbit.
Debuting in third, Warner’s Clint Eastwood flick The 15:17 to Paris didn’t take off, earning a meagre $12.6m from 3,042 theatres ($4,142 average), off -64.1% from Eastwood’s last movie, 2016’s Sully ($35.03m debut). As for legs, that’s kind of a doozy, as Paris happens to be Eastwood’s most critically disliked directorial effort ever. If this follows 2011’s J. Edgar (3.33x multiple), that gives Paris a $42m haul. Paris doesn’t star Leonardo DiCaprio, however, and while J. Edgar was met with indifference, it wasn’t to this extent. Overall, The 15:17 to Paris should settle over/under $30m in the U.S./Canada. A silver lining for Warner Bros., who haven’t had a smashing year thus far, is that this cost a responsible $30m to produce, so not a lot is on the line here.
Overseas, The 15:17 to Paris grossed $5.3 million from 23 markets for a $17.9m global start. Top openers are Italy ($1.5m), France ($1.4m), the U.K. ($400k), Spain ($330k), and Australia ($259k).
In fourth, Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle swung to $9.83m (-10.1%) in its eighth frame for a $365.66m cume. The Jake Kasdan-directed sequel will overtake 2004’s Spider-Man 2 ($373.59m) to become Sony’s second-highest grossing movie (domestically) ever.
Internationally, Welcome to the Jungle added $7.5m from 93 markets. Overseas and global hauls are $516.1m and $881.76m, respectively. Expect this to cross the $900m milestone soon. Updates are pending for specific territory numbers.
Rounding out the top five, Fox’s The Greatest Showman kept on, falling a light -16.8% (its second-worst hold, for perspective) to gross $6.4m in its eight weekend. Domestic cume for the Hugh Jackman musical is $146.54m and should overtake Lionsgate’s La La Land ($151.1m) sometime this week.
Overseas, The Greatest Showman earned $8.7m from 40 markets for a $167.71m total. Global is $314.25m for the $84m-budgeted flick. Showman‘s top two markets are the U.K. ($33.8m) and Australia ($21.6m), with updates pending for other territories.
HOLDOVERS
6. Maze Runner: The Death Cure (Fox) – $6 million (-42.7%), $49.02m cume
7. Winchester (Lionsgate) – $5.05 million (-45.7%), $17.18m cume
8. The Post (Fox) – $3.5 million (-32.9%), $72.84m cume
9. The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight) – $3 million (-32.6%), $49.77m cume
10. Den of Thieves (STX) – $2.87 million (-36.9%), $40.95m cume
Thanks for reading! Be sure to catch our predictions later this week for the upcoming Black Panther, Early Man, and Samson.
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