What an interesting start to the new year. After two weeks at #2, the ‘Jumanji’ sequel managed to climb into the top spot at the box office. The third ‘Insidious’ sequel also had a surprisingly big debut. Both are performing so well that I highly doubt either franchise is likely to end here.

‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle‘ is unstoppable. Attendance fell just 28% over its third week. The $36 million earned brought its domestic total up to $244.3 million. With $275 at the international box office, the film’s worldwide total rocketed past the $500 million milestone. A $519.3 million 19-day total is pretty impressive for a $90 million picture.

The #1 finish for ‘Jumanji’ was expected, but nobody predicted that the latest PG-13 horror movie would play so well. ‘Insidious: The Last Key‘ opened to an excellent $29.2 million, besting ‘Chapter 3‘ by nearly $7 million. The $40.2 million opening for ‘Chapter 2‘ still takes the cake for this franchise, but ‘The Last Key’ is already a financial success. It also scared up $20.1 million internationally, giving it a $49.3 million global opening. Produced on a small $10 million budget, I highly doubt that ‘The Last Key’ will be the last at all.

Seeing a 55% attendance drop over its fourth week, ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘ lost its three-time #1 spot and finished the weekend in third place. The $23.5 million brought its domestic run up to $572.5 million, making it the sixth-highest-grossing movie of all time in the United States. It also claimed $64.7 million overseas this weekend. The debut in China was the biggest, but the $28.7 million opening there still trailed behind a local Chinese film. The region may not have as much nostalgia for ‘Star Wars’ as many of us associate with the series, but it’s strange to see how it has been received since re-launching two years ago. While Chinese moviegoers eat up most big budget American blockbusters (ahem, ‘Transformers’), the ‘Star Wars’ franchise is on the decline there. ‘The Force Awakens’ opened to $52.3 million, Rogue One’ to $30 million, and now ‘The Last Jedi’ with $28.7 million. With $1.2 billion at the worldwide box office, the Force has been awakened everywhere but China.

The most impressive holdover this weekend was also last week’s most impressive holdover. ‘The Greatest Showman‘ didn’t have a huge opening over Christmas, but its attendance shot up over New Year’s and this weekend only dropped 11%. The additional $13.8 million allowed it to hold onto its #4 rank and brings its domestic total up to $75.9 million. Mrs. Hickman couldn’t join me for the press screening, so we pawned the kids off on my parents while we attempted to catch a Saturday night showing. By mid-day Saturday, nearly all of the evening shows were sold out, so we had to get tickets for 9:30 that also ultimately sold out. The crowd-pleasing musical shows no signs of stopping, which is great considering that it came with an $84 million price tag. Overseas, it has made $74.4 million, giving it a 19-day worldwide total of $150.3 million.

Three-week-old ‘Pitch Perfect 3‘ rounded out the Top 5 with $10.2 million. Although its Christmas opening wasn’t strong, the sequel has also held over well since then. Budgeted at $45 million, it has drawn $85.9 million domestically and $55 million overseas. With $140.9 million at the global box office, it’s also unlikely that this is the last time we’ll see the Barden Bellas on the big screen.

Top 10:

1. ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ (Sony) – $36,000,000

2. ‘Insidious: The Last Key’ (Universal) – $29,265,000

3. ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ (Buena Vista) – $23,551,000

4. ‘The Greatest Showman’ (Fox) – $13,800,000

5. ‘Pitch Perfect 3’ (Universal) – $10,225,000

6. ‘Ferdinand’ (Fox) – $7,730,000

7. ‘Molly’s Game’ (STX) – $7,000,000

8. ‘Darkest Hour’ (Focus) – $6,355,000

9. ‘Coco’ (Buena Vista) – $5,539,000

10. ‘All the Money in the World’ (Sony) – $3,550,000