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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
The Weekend Round-up
After a huge opening weekend, Star Wars: The Last Jedi predictably held on to the top spot, despite a strong performance from two new titles. On its second weekend, The Last Jedi added £10.2m, a drop of 50% once previews are removed. It was enough to take its total to £50.7m, making it the third biggest film released in 2017. By next weekend it will have overtaken the film second in that list, Dunkirk, with £56.6m. On its second weekend last year, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story added £5.7m, but that was hit with Christmas day falling on Sunday. In 2015, The Force Awakens also added £10.2m, but Christmas day fell on the Friday that year. Including Boxing day The Last Jedi has now grossed £52.9m.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle opened in second with an impressive £8.2m, which includes £4.1m from previews after opening on Wednesday, 20 December and previewing on 9 and 10 December. Including Boxing day it has now grossed £9.2m.
Pitch Perfect 3 opened in third with £4.3m, which includes £1.8m from previews. Pitch Perfect 2 opened with £5m without previews in2015, so this third instalment is looking like it will fall short of that film’s final total of £17.4m. It will have no problems eclipsing the first Pitch Perfect’s final total of £6.5m and including Boxing day it has now grossed £4.7m.
Ferdinand opened in fourth with £3.6m, which includes £2.5m from previews. Including Boxing day it has now grossed £3.8m.
Paddington 2 came in fifth, adding £1.6m, an increase of 20% on last weekend. That takes its total to £34.3m and it has now overtaken It to become the sixth biggest film of 2017 to date. The film fifth place in that list, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 finished on £41m, a total which looks out of reach in 2017, though Paddington 2 may get there in 2018. Including Boxing day Paddington 2 has now grossed £34.5m.
Outside of the top five, Bollywood title Tiger Zinda Hai opened in seventh with £496k and including Boxing day has grossed £762k. It also grossed £99k on Christmas day.
On another bumper weekend, the box office was down 6% from last weekend and up 135% from the same weekend last year, when the top films were Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Moana and Passengers.
Next Weekend
Molly’s Game is in cinemas on new year’s day and stars Jessica Chastain in the true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target. It’s the directorial debut of Aaron Sorkin, creator of The West Wing and Oscar-winning writer of The Social Network, Moneyball and Steve Jobs.
The Buzz
Downsizing is the latest film from Oscar-winner Alexander Payne (The Descendants, Sideways, Nebraska). Matt Damon stars in this social satire as a man who realises he would have a better life if he were to take advantage of newly available technology and shrink himself to 5% of his original size. It opened last weekend in the US and could only finish seventh in the box office, with a disappointing $5m.
Across The Pond
Star Wars: The Last Jedi held on to the top spot, adding $71.2m on its second weekend. That takes its total to $368.2m and after 10 days it was already the fourth biggest film of 2017. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opened on Wednesday and by Sunday had grossed $53m. Pitch Perfect 3 opened in third with $19.9m, which is a disappointing performance considering Pitch Perfect 2 opened with $69.2m. The Greatest Showman also opened on Wednesday and by Sunday had grossed $13.4m. Ferdinand completed the top five, adding $7.3m for a new cume of $26.8m.