Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Weekend Box Office: Not Strong Enough

You know it’s January when a five-week-old movie is still at the top of charts. Not one of this weekend’s three wide releases was able to defeat the almighty ‘Jumanji’ sequel. Each performed better than expected, but still brought in fairly low returns.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle‘ isn’t playing any games. The action comedy only dropped 29% this weekend, allowing it to outgross the best of the new releases by more than $3 million. The additional $20 million brings its domestic returns up to $316.9 million. With a $450.8 million international total, the film’s global take sits at a whopping $767.7 million.

The strongest of the new releases was the war film ‘12 Strong‘, which opened in second place to $16.5 million. With an estimated budget of $35 million (which is quite low for an action movie of this caliber), that’s a pretty decent debut. The post-9/11 picture has yet to open overseas. While a pro-U.S. war movie may not be all that popular with international moviegoers, they just might show up for Chris Hemsworth in the lead.

The shoot-’em-up heist movie ‘Den of Thieves‘ played out in almost the exact same fashion as ’12 Strong’. A $15.3 million score stole the 140-minute movie a #3 opening. The Gerard Butler ensemble picture came with a $30 million price tag and should easily become profitable when it opens overseas.

Steven Spielberg’s ‘The Post‘ took a low 37% dip in its second week playing in wide release and locked in the #4 spot. With another $12.1 million, its domestic earnings are up to $45.1 million. The ’70s political drama also opened in 23 international markets, where it made $9.9 million. To date, the $50 million awards contender has grossed $55 million worldwide – and it still has plenty of larger markets to go.

Five-week-old ‘The Greatest Showman‘ rounded out the Top 5. The unstoppable musical once again barely declined in attendance (12%). Nationwide sing-along showings likely aided in bringing return viewers. The $84 million picture added $11 million to its domestic total, which now sits at $113.4 million. (Not too shabby considering the Hugh Jackman flick debuted widely to just $8.8 million, right?) Overseas, it has collected $118 million, giving it a global total of $231.4 million.

From 1,115 locations, the best that newcomer ‘Forever My Girl‘ could muster was tenth place. It grossed $4.7 million, which is actually decent when you take into account that its per-screen average ($4,218) was better than five of the titles in Top 10. Produced on a micro $3.5 million budget, Roadside Attractions is pleased enough with the movie’s performance that it will push the romance picture to an additional 500 screens this Friday.

None of the expanding indie releases made much noise this weekend. However, that may change with this week’s announcement of the Oscar nominations.

Top 10:

1. ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ (Sony) – $20,040,000

2. ’12 Strong’ (Warner Bros.) – $16,500,000

3. ‘Den of Thieves’ (STX) – $15,320,000

4. ‘The Post’ (Fox) – $12,150,000

5. ‘The Greatest Showman’ (Fox) – $11,000,000

6. ‘Paddington 2’ (Warner Bros.) – $8,240,000

7. ‘The Commuter’ (Lionsgate) – $6,685,000

8. ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ (Buena Vista) – $6,566,000

9. ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ (Universal) – $5,945,000

10. ‘Forever My Girl’ (Roadside) – $4,703,070

7 comments

  1. “23 international markets, where it made $9.9 million”. Darn, that’s a horrible result. That’s $400,000 per market. Spielberg (still my favorite director of all time) needs more international love.

    • William Henley

      Yes, but which 23 markets?

      Country
      (click to view weekend breakdown) Dist. Release
      Date Opening
      Wknd % of
      Total Total Gross / As Of
      FOREIGN TOTAL – 1/11/18 $2,449,696 24.7% $9,900,000 1/21/18

      Australia E1 1/11/18 $1,448,181 46.8% $3,091,728 1/21/18
      Croatia Blitz 1/11/18 $31,143 100% $31,143 1/14/18
      Cyprus Odeon 1/11/18 $15,842 100% $15,842 1/14/18
      Greece Odeon 1/11/18 $378,351 100% $378,351 1/14/18
      Iceland Samfilm 1/19/18 $22,188 89.8% $24,712 1/21/18
      Israel UKing 1/11/18 $319,769 100% $319,769 1/14/18
      New Zealand E1 1/11/18 $174,714 42.8% $407,989 1/21/18
      Serbia & Montenegro Blitz 1/11/18 $13,807 100% $13,807 1/14/18
      Slovenia Blitz 1/18/18 $23,128 100% $23,128 1/21/18
      Turkey Pinema 1/12/18 $57,825 100% $57,825 1/14/18

      Many of these countries have populations under 5 million people (some under 2 million), countries like Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Serbia do not have the strongest of economies, theatrical releases in these countries do not do as well as they do in other parts of the world, and its a January release. Based on the countries listed here, and how much each market pulled in, those numbers are not that bad

    • Judas Cradle

      The most beloved director worldwide for the last 40 years needs more love?!!
      He made a movie that doesn’t travel well. Imagine a movie done by Zhang Yimou about a Chinese newspaper, and Chinese politics. Would not do well elsewhere.

  2. Zombie Twin, UK

    @Julian: International markets have been good to him. Tintin only made back half of the production costs stateside, but made nearly $300m abroad. The BFG more than doubled the American takings, and Bridge of Spies made more elsewhere, too. International markets like him fine, it’s just that most want him to hurry up with Indy 5.

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