Theater Counts: Death Cure Opens in 3,787 Theaters

January 25, 2018

Just two weeks ago, Paddington 2 had the second-widest opening ever in January, playing in 3,702 theaters. This weekend, Maze Runner: The Death Cure will claim that second place spot by opening in 3,787 locations. Kung Fu Panda 3 will still hold the record, with 3,955 theaters, and Death Cure isn’t expected to challenge many other January records, with our prediction standing at $22 million, but that won’t be for lack of theaters.

Hostiles will be expanding wide this weekend, with ESMP getting the film into 2,851 venues. That makes it the fledgling distributor’s widest release to date. After a strong run in limited release, ESMP is hoping Hostiles comes somewhere close to the performance of last Summer’s 47 Meters Down, which had an $11.2 million opening weekend.

The Oscar contender getting the biggest expansion is, unsurprisingly, The Shape of Water, which will add 1,001 theaters to play in 1,854 this weekend. It has already moved firmly into the top 10 since the nominations were announced on Tuesday, and should find itself in the top 5 this weekend.

Four other Oscar hopefuls are gaining theaters this weekend. Three Billboards expands from 954 into 1,457 locations; Lady Bird will play in 1,177 theaters, which is 502 more than last weekend, but not the widest it has been during its long run (it played in 1,557 over the weekend of December 8); Phantom Thread adds 125 theaters to play in 1,021 this weekend; finally, I, Tonya will unspool in 161 extra movie houses this weekend, for a total of 960—its broadest release yet.

Also worth noting on the Oscar front is Get Out, which will return in 468 theaters this weekend.

Looking ahead to next weekend, Winchester will roll out in approximately 2,300, per Lionsgate’s estimate (they are distributing on behalf of CBS Films).

Bruce Nash

Filed under: Theater Counts, The Maze Runner