Friday Estimates: The Last Jedi Adds $24.68 Million to Top $300 Million

December 23, 2017

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

This weekend complicated, as Christmas Eve lands on a Sunday and Christmas Day technically makes it a four-day weekend. Although with so many schools closed for the holidays, you could almost call it a eleven-day weekend. This makes interpreting Friday’s box office numbers more difficult than usual. Star Wars: The Last Jedi earned $24.68 million on Friday, putting its running tally to $321.28 million. It tied Jurassic World for second-fastest to $300 million at just 8 days. On the other hand, this is a little bit lower than our predictions. It still has a real shot at over $100 million during the four-day weekend, but it could have to wait until Tuesday to get to $400 million.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle bounced back with $12.4 million on Friday, for a three-day total of $27.1 million. This is better than expected after its soft Wednesday debut, so it now has a shot at earning over $40 million during the four-day weekend and a six-day opening of over $60 million. Given its reviews, its A minus from CinemaScore, and the holidays, it will likely earn even more next weekend and blow past $100 million in the process.

Pitch Perfect 3 earned $10.6 million on Friday, but because that was its opening day, it won’t have the same legs Welcome to the Jungle has. It also earned much weaker reviews, but earned a solid A minus from CinemaScore. Its Friday was more or less in line with expectations, which means it should earn more than $30 million over the four-day weekend. This is very likely more than it cost to make, so Universal should be very happy. On the other hand, this installment was planned as the end of the franchise, so unless they plan a fast reboot or a direct-to-DVD line of sequels, this is the last Pitch Perfect movie we will see.

The Greatest Showman did a little better than expected with $3.13 million. I was expecting a little under $3 million, so this is good news, mostly. Its reviews are mixed, while it earned an A from CinemaScore, so I’m hopeful with regards to its legs. However, it reportedly cost $84 million to make. Films released this time of year tend to have really long legs, but even just matching $84 million domestically won’t be easy.

Ferdinand grabbed fifth place with $2.76 million on Friday, putting it on pace for about $10 million during the four-day weekend. It needed to be better than this to break even any time soon.

Downsizing was even worse with just $2.05 million in 2,668 theaters. It will likely miss the Mendoza Line over the three-day weekend, especially since it only managed a C from CinemaScore. The critics were likewise not impressed by the film, so it will likely disappear once real competition begins in the new year.

Father Figures bombed. It only managed $1.37 million on Friday and will likely miss the Mendoza Line, even over the four-day weekend. Its reviews are terrible and it only managed a B minus from CinemaScore. Look for this film to disappear from theaters by mid-January.

- Friday Box Office Chart

- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Comparisons
- Pitch Perfect 3 Comparisons
- Downsizing Comparisons
- The Greatest Showman Comparisons
- Father Figures Comparisons

Filed under: Friday Estimates, The Greatest Showman, Downsizing, Ferdinand, Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi, Pitch Perfect 3, Father Figures, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Pitch Perfect