Weekend Estimates: Last Jedi Easily Holds Off Five Newcomers
December 24, 2017
It’s a very crowded weekend, to say the least, in theaters, with five new wide releases already playing, and another joining the fray tomorrow. The Last Jedi is unperturbed by the competition, and will come out an easy winner, according to studio estimates released on Sunday. Its $68.486 million projected 3-day gross takes it to $365 million after 10 days in release. Among its new records this weekend, it became the 3rd-fastest film to earn $350 million at the domestic box office, and will have the 3rd-best Christmas weekend. All this is in spite of the fact that takings are expected to be down significantly today as everyone prepares for, or starts celebrating, the holiday.
Internationally, Last Jedi will earn $75.1 million this weekend (over three days), taking it to $380.3 million overseas, for a global total of $745.4 million though Sunday. It is already the highest-grossing film of 2017 in Denmark and Sweden, has the second-best gross in Australia, and is number three for the year so far in the UK, which is its biggest overseas territory (for now), with $67.4 million. Other grosses to date include Germany’s $40 million, France $29.3m, Japan $28.5m, Australia $26.9m, Spain $13.6m, Brazil $12.1m. See our international tracking for a full breakdown.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is having the best weekend among the new releases, with Sony projecting a 3-day weekend of $34 million, for $48.8 million since the film opened on Wednesday. Pitch Perfect 3 is also doing good business, with a projected $20.45 million over three days, and $27.035 million expected over four. It’s hard to make a direct comparison, due to the complicated nature of the holiday, but Pitch Perfect 3 is looking as though it’ll struggle to keep pace with Pitch Perfect 2, which opened with $69 million back in 2015. It’s well ahead of Pitch Perfect, though, which opened with $5.1 million. A full franchise analysis can be found here.
Fox takes fourth and fifth place this weekend with two films that are performing below where they would have hoped. The Greatest Showman will take in $8.6 million over three days, for $13.2 million since its Wednesday debut. Fox expects another $5 million on Monday, for $18.2 million over its first six days. Ferdinand will bring in about $7 million in its second 3-day weekend (and $9.2 million over four days), and will end Christmas Day with about $28.7 million at the domestic box office.
The weekend’s other two wide releases are both duds. Downsizing’s promising premise didn’t draw much of an audience, with Paramount expecting $4.6 million over three days. It’s tracking significantly behind Alexander Payne’s last comparable film, The Descendants, which ended up with $82.6 million domestically. Father Figures is looking even worse, with $3.2 million projected for three days.
In limited release, The Post is doing its awards season bona fides no harm by opening with a projected $495,000 from just nine locations. I, Tonya continues to look strong, with $445,694 expected from 37 theaters this weekend, for a little over $1 million in total after three weekends. Finally, Hostiles is posting solid numbers for Entertainment Studios, with $26,000 expected to come in from three movie houses.
- Weekend estimates
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi Comparisons
- Biggest weekends at the box office
- Star Wars franchise history
- Pitch Perfect franchise history
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Comparisons
- Pitch Perfect 3 Comparisons
- The Greatest Showman Comparisons
- Ferdinand Comparisons
- Coco Comparisons
- Downsizing Comparisons
- Father Figures Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Greatest Showman, Downsizing, Ferdinand, Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi, Pitch Perfect 3, Father Figures, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, I, Tonya, The Post, Hostiles, Star Wars, Pitch Perfect, Alexander Payne