Audiences from coast to coast powered the adventure comedy Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle to number one for the third consecutive frame helping the Sony blockbuster smash $750M at the global box office. The PG-13 juggernaut dropped only 29% in its fifth weekend in North America grossing an estimated $20M propelling the cume to an incredible $317M. It is now the studio’s biggest hit ever outside of Spider-Man movies having surpassed Skyfall‘s $304.4M this weekend.
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Jack Black, Jumanji has displayed formidable stamina over the past month and has taken the top spot every weekend in 2018 so far. It will soon pass Sony’s Spider-Man: Homecoming to become the fifth biggest domestic blockbuster from 2017 and could finish in the neighborhood of $375M shattering every industry expectation.
Movie fans around the world have been flocking to Jumanji which saw its international total climb to $450.8M this weekend putting global at $767.8M and counting. China is the top market overseas with $65.8M in ten days, although the second weekend suffered a sharp 81% nosedive. Japan is the final market and will open in April. Overall, worldwide love for this fun thrill ride should push the global haul soaring past the $900M mark in the end which would beat all six big super hero films from last year.
Two Hollywood hunks fought over the number two spot with their new action movies but Chris Hemsworth edged ahead with his military thriller 12 Strong which debuted to an estimated $16.5M from 3,002 theaters for a $5,496 average. Warner Bros. saw mixed reviews and skewed to an older male audience. The CinemaScore grade was a promising A.
Gerard Butler’s new heist thriller Den of Thieves bowed in third with an estimated $15.3M from 2,432 locations for a solid $6,301 average. Critics were not fans of the STX release but audiences were generally pleased as the CinemaScore was a good B+. Given all the action competition right now, the performance was commendable.
Fox followed with a pair of star-driven hits. The Post with Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks dropped 37% to an estimated $12.2M for a new cume of $45.2M. The Steven Spielberg film is anticipating a handful of Oscar nominations on Tuesday which will help prolong its box office life over the coming weeks.
Hugh Jackman has been displaying the best legs of any Hollywood star this winter with the hit musical The Greatest Showman which eased only 12% to an estimated $11M as the PG-rated film has spent all five of its weeks in the Top 5. The total is now $113.5M heading to $150M or more which will make it the top grossing film of the actor’s career outside of his Wolverine roles. Any Academy Award nominations in craft and music departments would help keep it going too. With another $118M to date overseas, global now stands at $231.5M with much more to come.
The well-reviewed kidpic Paddington 2 followed with an estimated $8.2M, off just 25% in its second round, for a sum of $25M for Warner Bros. Lionsgate saw its Liam Neeson thriller The Commuter slide 51% to an estimated $6.7M in its sophomore frame for a $25.7M total to date.
The Luke Skywalker saga Star Wars: The Last Jedi broke the $600M mark at the domestic box office this weekend, only the sixth film of all-time to do it. Down 45%, the Disney release grossed an estimated $6.6M lifting the cume to $604.3M. The overseas release is winding down now as sales in China have eroded quickly with a cume of $40.6M after 17 days there which does not break the top five of all international markets on this movie. Its final tally in that country is likely to finish 35% below Rogue One and a disturbing 64% below The Force Awakens.
Still, the current run for Last Jedi has been huge with the total overseas tally now $692M and global just shy of $1.3 billion ranking number nine all-time. Final global box office should end at about $1.35 billion representing a 35% fall from the $2.07 billion of Force Awakens from two years earlier. Episode IX is set to conclude the current trilogy and is slated for release on December 20 of 2019.
Horror hit Insidious: The Last Key took ninth place with an estimated $5.9M, down 53%, for a cume of $58.7M for Universal. The new romance Forever My Girl rounded out the top ten with a debut of an estimated $4.7M from 1,115 theaters for a moderate $4,218 average for Roadside Attractions. Reviews were poor but those who showed up have been liking it.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $107.1M which was down 11% from last year when Split opened at number one with $40M; but up 12% from 2016 when The Revenant took over the top spot with $16M.
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