Weekend Box Office: Jumanji & Insidious Beat Last Jedi

The first weekend of any year is usually a straight-forward affair – horror movie does fine, holdovers continue to hold, blah blah. This weekend proved interesting, at the very least, and grossed $162.04 million, +18% ahead of the same frame last year ($137.4m).

Coming in first, Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle added $36 million to its coffers in weekend #3, holding impressively well – the $90m adventure film dropped a mere -28.1% from last frame. Domestic cume thus far is $244.37m. Jumanji’s haul is notably on par with its opening weekend ($36.17m) and the movie continues to outpace 2006’s Night at the Museum by +33% at the same point in release. Continuing that pattern gives Welcome to the Jungle a fantastic $325m tally by run’s end. Given how the movie’s eclipsed most expectations thrown its way, don’t be surprised if it manages to go a tad higher.

Overseas, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle uncovered $70 million from 86 markets for a $275m total. Global is $519.37m. Jumanji’s top markets are the U.K. ($35.7m), Australia ($20.9m), Russia ($19.2m), France ($18.8m), and Germany ($14.8m). The movie releases in China, where star Dwayne Johnson is a popular figure, this weekend.

Opening in second, Universal/Blumhouse’s Insidious: The Last Key haunted a strong $29.27 million from 3,116 hubs. January tends to be a reliable frame to open a horror flick and it proved no different here. The fourth entry in the Insidious franchise benefited from familiarity and the lack of new wide releases this weekend. It’s also an effective piece of counterprogramming for young adult audiences not wanting to see the younger-skewing blockbusters or the adult-oriented prestige films. Impressively, The Last Key debuted +22.5% ahead of 2015’s Insidious: Chapter 3 ($22.69m) and is the second-highest opening in the series, behind 2013’s Insidious: Chapter 2 ($40.27m). Not bad for a fourth installment, especially when it was produced for a thrifty $10m. Such is the Blumhouse way.

It’ll be interesting to watch how The Last Key performs from here, given the critical lashing it’s taken. Conversely, audiences themselves don’t mind it as much and have given the film a “B-” rating on CinemaScore polls (not bad for a horror movie). IMDb score is an okay 6.1/10 from >2,400 ratings. A performance akin to Chapter 3 gives The Last Key a $67m haul. If the Adam Robitel-directed film plays closer to Chapter 2, it gets over $60m, so things are looking good.

Internationally, Insidious: The Last Key grossed $20.1 million from 33 markets, notching series-high openings in each. The global debut is $49.37m. Sony is handling The Last Key’s overseas release; couple these figures with Jumanji’s and you have a pretty happy studio. Highest-grossing Insidious movie overseas is Chapter 2 with $78.33m, a figure The Last Key may match/exceed. Top markets for the Blumhouse/Stage 6 production are Mexico ($4.1m), France ($2.2m), Germany ($2m), Malaysia ($1.6m), and India ($1.3m) with plenty more to come.

In third, Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi fell -55.2% to gross $23.55 million in its fourth frame. Domestic tally for Episode VIII is a huge $572.51m. The Last Jedi’s decline is on par with 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story during the same frame (-55.5%). Similar performance from here gives The Last Jedi a $630m+ tally, good enough for fifth-highest of all time, just ahead of 2012’s The Avengers ($623.36m). At this point, it’s unlikely Episode VIII surpasses 2015’s Jurassic World ($652.27m), but hey, grosses these big are nothing to gawk at.

Overseas, Star Wars: The Last Jedi added $67.4 million from 55 markets for a $632.7m total. The Last Jedi jumped to #13 on the all time worldwide charts and has earned $1.205 billion. Episode VIII opened in China and, as early reports suggested, wasn’t a hit. The latest Star Wars movie grossed $28.7m in China, below the opening for Rogue One ($30.08m) and well below 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($52.35m). Despite Disney’s best efforts to excite the nation, China simply doesn’t have the somewhat requisite nostalgia for the franchise and a popular local comedy has been dominating its box office. Alas, The Last Jedi’s top markets are the U.K. ($102.7m), Germany ($73.5m), France ($57.6m), Japan ($52.2m), and Australia ($39.8m).

Keeping steady in fourth, Fox’s The Greatest Showman sang to the tune of $13.8 million in its third weekend, down a mere -11.1%. The Hugh Jackman musical has grossed $75.9m and its holds have been surprisingly good. So good, in fact, that the $84m movie shouldn’t have trouble crossing $100m in the U.S./Canada.

The Greatest Showman added $24 million overseas from 74 markets. International total is $74.49m and global is $150.39m. Top markets with updated figures are the U.K. ($13.5m), Mexico ($7.2m), and Spain ($3.2m). The movie has, since December 31st, 2017, grossed $6.1m in South Korea and $5.3m in Australia, numbers which will grow higher once official figures come through.

Dropping to fifth, Universal’s Pitch Perfect 3 fell -39.2% to add $10.23 million in its third frame. Domestic cume for the franchise’s (supposedly) final outing is $85.98m and will cross $100m soon. Even though Pitch Perfect 3 is playing -41.8% behind 2015’s Pitch Perfect 2 at the same point in release, the movie cost a responsible $45m to produce. It’s not the swansong Universal may have hoped for, but it’ll make bank.

Internationally, Pitch Perfect 3 grossed $18.1 million from 43 markets, bringing its total to $55m. Global cume is $140.98m. Top markets with updated figures are the U.K. ($17m), Australia ($8.4m), Germany ($7.9m), the Netherlands ($2.4m), and New Zealand ($1.1m).

 

HOLDOVERS

6. Ferdinand (Fox) – $7.73 million (-32.1%), $70.5m cume
7. Molly’s Game (STX) – $7 million (+197.9%), $14.22m cume
8. Darkest Hour (Focus) – $6.36 million (+15.8%), $28.39m cume
9. Coco (Disney) – $5.54 million (-25.8%), $192.08m cume
10. All the Money in the World (TriStar) – $3.55 million (-36.4%), $20.13m cume

NOTABLES
– I, Tonya (Neon) – $2.43 million (+297.4%), $5.29m cume (242 theatres, $10,026 avg.)
– The Post (Fox) – $1.7 million (+203.0%), $3.85m cume (36 theatres, $47,222 avg.)
– Call Me by Your Name (Sony Classics) – $758,726 (+1.6%), $6.08m cume (117 theatres, $6,485 avg.)
– Hostiles (Entertainment) – $310,000 (+826.6%), $435,192 cume (46 theatres, $6,739 avg.)
– Phantom Thread (Focus) – $245,000 (+13.2%), $951,950 cume (6 theatres, $40,833 avg.)