With three major new releases opening this past Friday and a number of expansions from limited release, most notablyThe Post,Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungleremains the number one movie in America at the box office. An estimated $27 million will be added onto theJake Kasdan-helmed film’s domestic total by the end of today, paving the road for the movie to cross the $300 million mark by the end of next weekend.Kevin HartandDwayne Johnsonweren’t enough to makeCentral Intelligence, a far better movie than Kasdan’s, a bonafide hit, but the inclusion of name recognition seems to be the secret ingredient here. Whether or not this success will carry over to Johnson’s 2018 blockbusters -Rampage,Skyscraper, etc. - is a question I’m impatient to have answered.
The Post, now in wide release, will take second place with $18.6 million, bringing its domestic total thus far up to $23 million, which is a little under $4 million less than whatJumanjimade in its fourth frame. Though many prognosticators had the movie set as an Oscar favorite, its lack of wins at the Golden Globes looks to have cooled its buzz a bit. Still, it was enough to dismiss all new releases that dropped this weekend, including a genuinely good movies (Paddington 2) and slight yet stylish entertainments, such asThe Commuter, which is currently in third with $13.4 million.
In fact,The Commuterwas the only new release to make it into the top five, despiteProud Maryshowing up in fifth at the end of Friday. TheTaraji P. Henson-led action-drama was ultimately overtaken byThe Greatest Showman, which landed in fifth with $11.8 million, whereasProud Maryended up in eighth with $10 million. Meanwhile,Insidious: The Last Key, the fourth and hopefully last of these movies, held steady in fourth with $12.1 million, and there’s a chance it could remain there into next weekend. This coming Friday has three new releases -12 Strong,Forever My Girl, andDen of Thieves- and none of them have much in the way of buzz or promise,12 Strongbeing the only one with a possible in. Indeed,Jumanjimight have another weekend or two of being king of the jungle.
Here’s your top five for the weekend:
Weekend Domestic BO
Total Domestic BO
- ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’
$27,035,000
$283,170,909
2. ‘The Post’
$18,600,000
$23,089,237
3. ‘The Commuter’
$13,450,000
4. ‘Insidious: The Last Key’
$12,135,000
$48,375,140
5. ‘The Greatest Showman’
$11,800,000
$94,553,868
