Theater Counts: Office Christmas Party 3,210; Rogue One 4,000

December 8, 2016

This is the last chance for rival studios to squeeze in a wide release before Rogue One crushes it at the box office next weekend, but it’s also the high point of the holiday shopping season, so not the ideal time to be releasing a big film. That leads us to having a slightly more interesting weekend coming up than last weekend, with the release of Office Christmas Party in 3,210 theaters and a couple of wide expansions, but nothing that’s odds-on favorite to knock Moana off its perch at the top of the chart.

The wide expanders are Miss Sloane, which has had a couple of very good weeks in limited release and is now expanding into 1,598 locations, and Nocturnal Animals, which has had three weekends of steady growth before a leap from 127 to 1,262 theaters this time around. Nocturnal Animals is the better bet for a berth in the top five this weekend, based on the tracking we’ve seen.

A few other films will have notable increases in theater counts. Arrival expands 200 locations to 3,115, giving Paramount three films playing in over 3,000 theaters this weekend (Office Christmas Party and Allied are the other two). Manchester by the Sea expands by 212 venues into 368. Loving adds 126 to 572. All three are vying for some awards love at the moment, as is Jackie, which adds a more modest 21 theaters in its second weekend, but will undoubtedly be gaining more through the holidays.

Looking ahead to next weekend, the news will all be about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which Disney announced today would open in over 4,000 theaters. That’s no surprise, of course, but is further confirmation that it’ll be the biggest film of the month, and would be cruising to a December opening record if it wasn’t for the numbers The Force Awakens posted this time last year.

Filed under: Theater Counts