If you’re a studio not named Disney hoping to sneak in a film in wide release before “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” debuts on Friday, then this weekend was your last shot. And with that in mind, we saw studios debut a new action-comedy starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan with “Jumanji: The Next Level,” another studio hope to sneak in a quick prestige drama from Clint Eastwood with “Richard Jewell,” and yet another studio try to attract those teens with a holiday-themed slasher flick with “Black Christmas.”
And honestly, the only one to survive a very busy week at the box office is the obvious pick — “Jumanji: The Next Level.” No matter what, there’s no denying the charisma of Dwayne Johnson and the chemistry that cast has created. It’s pure box office gold.
READ MORE: ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’: The Uninspired Sequel Settles For More Of The Same [Review]
Debuting at #1, ‘The Next Level’ beat expectations and posted an impressive $60.1 million domestic opening, easily winning the weekend and dethroning “Frozen II” from the top spot. Worldwide, this is the second weekend for the comedy film, which sits at a grand total of $213 million. Not a bad start at all for a film franchise that has already gone up against ‘Star Wars’ and lived to tell the tale.
While most studios would balk at the idea of sending a blockbuster franchise that seemingly goes after the same demos to take on ‘Star Wars,’ Sony put the ‘Jumanji’ franchise up against Lucasfilm in 2017 and the first film ended up earning a hair below $1 billion worldwide. And judging by this solid opening, and the public’s apparent love of the franchise, “Jumanji: The Next Level” is hoping to keep attracting families to the theaters throughout the holiday season, competing for screens against “Star Wars.”
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The only real question we have about the box office staying power of “Jumanji: The Next Level” is how well the word of mouth is going to carry the sequel. 2017’s ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ was a surprise hit, with movie-goers shocked at how entertaining the reboot was. And judging by reviews for ‘The Next Level,’ it would appear that Sony and the filmmakers played it safe with the sequel, not really changing up the formula all that much. Will families be okay with more of the same or will they just wait for something more interesting and exciting to hit theaters? We will get a taste of that answer next weekend.
As for the other major wide release debuts this weekend, “Richard Jewell” and “Black Christmas” didn’t make the grand impact that their respective distributors were likely hoping for. Riding a wave of decent reviews (73% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the marquee name Clint Eastwood as the director, Warner Bros. was likely hoping that “Richard Jewell” would open to a bigger debut than just $5 million domestically.
Last December, Warner Bros. debuted Eastwood’s previous film “The Mule” and saw that film open to more than $17 million and a final domestic total of more than $103 million. However, the big difference with “Richard Jewell” is that the filmmaker doesn’t appear as the star of the film. Perhaps Eastwood’s target audience really only comes out to see his films when he’s the guy on screen, as well? No matter the reason (and no, the controversy probably didn’t play much of a role, as that’s probably off the radar of many casual movie-goers), it would appear that “Richard Jewell” isn’t going to come close to $100 million and will likely be a bit of a disappointment for WB and Eastwood.
Thankfully, “Black Christmas” will likely be profitable, despite a soft opening of $4.4 million in the first three days. With microbudget horror films, a strong debut is icing on the cake, but it’s really difficult for these films to turn into huge bombs. “Black Christmas” looks to be a disappointment however, as the reviews have been pretty brutal (44% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the audiences gave the film a terrible D+ CinemaScore. Now, we’ve seen horror films recover from bad CinemaScores (last year’s “Hereditary” was able to stick around after a similar score), but with “Star Wars” coming, teens are going to have choices and won’t be forced to check out a subpar horror film.
Oh, and it’s important to mention that Disney reached a massive milestone this weekend as “Frozen II” crossed the $1 billion threshold and now sits at a worldwide total of $1.032 billion. This film marks the sixth release by the Mouse House in 2019 to reach a billion dollars. With “Star Wars” all but guaranteed to do that, the prediction of seven films to hit $1 billion in 2019 is looking like a sure thing.
Despite the debut of “Jumanji: The Next Level,” the biggest success of the weekend will likely be over at A24, which saw “Uncut Gems” debut in 5 theaters and earn a massive Per Theater Average (PTA) of $105,100. That’s a record number for the indie distributor and good sign that the Safdie Brothers’ latest film might have the crossover appeal to become a pretty big hit for the directors. If nothing else, a strong box office showing further puts the film deeper into the Oscar conversation.
And if it wasn’t for “Uncut Gems,” perhaps we’d be crowning “Bombshell” as the weekend’s big surprise. The Fox News scandal drama debuted in 4 theaters with a PTA of $78,000. That’s a really solid start for the film, which is expected to be a mainstream hit, considering the big three stars leading the way — Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie.
The only other limited release debut of note is Terrence Malick’s long-awaited “A Hidden Life.” After a festival season that saw the film get rave reviews, with some calling it a masterpiece, the Malick film opened in 5 locations with a PTA of only $10,400. That’s not the best start in the world for the Fox Searchlight film, especially given Malick’s track record with the studio. “Tree of Life” debuted in 2011 in 4 locations and earned a PTA of $93,320. So, unfortunately for Malick and his fans, it would appear that “A Hidden Life” is not going to ride the box office buzz into next week when it opens in more locations. Perhaps the film will fare better with a wider audience?
As for next weekend, the story will definitely be “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.” Will the film open closer to ‘The Last Jedi,’ or perhaps lower due to the polarizing nature of the previous film? Or will the marketing, which has hyped ‘Rise’ as the “Avengers: Endgame” of the franchise pay off with a massive debut? We’ll find out soon enough. Also, “Cats” opens and who knows what the hell that film is going to do?
Here’s the domestic top 10 for December 13 to 15:
1. Jumanji: The Next Level – $60.1M (Debut)
2. Frozen II – $19.2M ($367M Overall)
3. Knives Out – $9.25M ($79M)
4. Richard Jewell – $5M (Debut)
5. Black Christmas – $4.4M (Debut)
6. Ford v Ferrari – $4.1M ($98M)
7. Queen & Slim – $3.6M ($33M)
8. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood – $3.36M ($49M)
9. Dark Waters – $2M ($8.9M)
10. 21 Bridges – $1.2M ($26M)