’Star Wars’ loses out to ’Jumanji,’ ’Insidious’ in its fourth weekend at box office
LOS ANGELES — Move over, “Star Wars,” there are some new box office champs this weekend. “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” has topped the charts after three weekends in theatres, and newcomer “Insidious: The Last Key” opened in second, pushing “The Last Jedi” into third place.
Columbia Pictures says Sunday that the Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart-led “Jumanji” is estimated to have earned an additional $36 million this weekend, bringing its total to $244.4 million.
“This is all about ‘Jumanji’s’ staying power,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for box office tracker comScore. “This is a movie that was overshadowed by all the excitement around ‘The Last Jedi,’ and yet ‘Jumanji’ just kept plugging away and drawing audiences throughout the holiday … This is kind of unheard of for a movie this size.”
In second place is the horror film “Insidious: The Last Key,” the fourth in the franchise, which earned $29.3 million. The Universal and Blumhouse Pictures film even outperformed the third chapter in the series. That film launched to $22.7 million in June of 2015.
“We could not be more thrilled with that debut. It’s a fantastic result,” said Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic distribution. “The release date worked in our favour. There hasn’t been a similar film in a couple of months. ”
Young audiences drove the “Insidious” box office with 59% under the age of 25. Whether or not they enjoyed the film is another question: It got a scary B- CinemaScore.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” fell to third place with $23.6 million in its fourth weekend in theatres. The space blockbuster has grossed $572.5 million to date.
“The Greatest Showman” took fourth place with $13.8 million and “Pitch Perfect 3” rounded out the top five with $10.2 million.
Awards seasons films continue to expand throughout January, too, like Aaron Sorkin’s directorial debut “Molly’s Game,” which added over 1,300 theatres this weekend and took in $7 million. The Jessica Chastain-starrer about the real life “poker princess” Molly Bloom is up for two Golden Globe awards Sunday evening — best actress and best screenplay.
The Winston Churchill film “Darkest Hour” starring Gary Oldman (who is up for a best actor Golden Globe) also added 790 theatres and took in $6.4 million.
The weekend is up around 18% from the same weekend last year, which Dergarabedian sees as a sign that perhaps the 2018 box office will be stronger and more steady than 2017.
“2017 was not consistent. It was volatile, it was a rollercoaster,” Dergarabedian said. “This sets the tone for what we’re hoping is a consistent and strong 2018 box office.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1.”Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” $36 million.
2.”Insidious: The Last Key,” $29.3 million.
3.”Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” $23.6 million.
4.”The Greatest Showman,” $13.8 million.
5.”Pitch Perfect 3,” $10.2 million.
6.”Ferdinand,” $7.7 million.
7.”Molly’s Game,” $7 million.
8.”Darkest Hour,” $6.4 million.
9.”Coco,” $5.5 million.
10.”All the Money in the World,” $3.6 million.