Disney continues to shatter records as we enter the new decade, whilst Sony’s newest offering “The Grudge”, just managed to survive its miserable reviews.
Another week and another place at number one for Disney’s Saga ending “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”. Taking $33.7M domestically and $50.5M internationally, the JJ Abrams-directed end to the Skywalker saga now sits at $918.8M worldwide. Next week will see it break the billion-dollar barrier as it becomes Disney’s seventh 2019 film to reach that landmark, all whilst continuing to hunt down the $1.3B of 2017’s “The Last Jedi”.
In second yet again is Sony’s steady gathering sequel “Jumanji: The Next Level”. Mustering a healthy $26.5M domestically and a further $42.4M worldwide (for a global tally of $610M) the film’s long lifespan is becoming increasingly similar to the 2017 original. Although that film’s $900M end tally may just be out of reach.
In third, and in its second weekend of release is Sony and Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women”. The universally acclaimed adaptation managed $13.37M, pushing its domestic total past the $60M mark. Meanwhile, the films near $21M overseas haul means the film will hope to surpass the $100M worldwide landmark this time next week.
One of the biggest chunks of news this week comes in the form of Disney’s “Frozen 2”. Which, having gathered another $11.29M domestic and $42.4M internationally, meant the film hit another landmark for Disney, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time, surpassing the original film’s tally by nearly $40M to reach the massive haul of $1.325B.
The weeks only new release came in the form of Sony’s “The Grudge”, which despite receiving scathing reviews (37 Metascore) still managed $11.3M for the weekend, however, expect a huge drop off next week. Internationally the film brought home nearly $6M from around 30 markets.
Elsewhere, Lionsgate and Rian Johnson’s stupendous “Knives Out” continued to make money even six weeks after its wide release. And with a domestic total of nearly $120M, and a global tally of over $250M, talk of a ‘sequel’ starring Daniel Craig’s detective ‘Benoit Blanc’ has been rife.
Next weekend will see Universal attempt to make a big splash with the wide release of major Oscar contender “1917” directed by Sam Mendes. Whilst Warner Bros will finally release “Just Mercy” in over 2000 locations. The film stars Michael B Jordan and Jamie Foxx and tackles the important subject matter of false imprisonment and police discrimination. Two must sees.
1. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney) $33,739,00
Cumulative: $450,796,000
2. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) $26,500,000
Cumulative: $236,206,000
3. Little Women (Sony) $13,575,000
Cumulative: $60,023,000
4. The Grudge (Sony) $11,300,000
Cumulative: $11,300,000
5. Frozen II (Disney) $11,291,000
Cumulative: $449,876,000
6. Spies in Disguise (20th Century Fox) $10,084,000
Cumulative: $46,730,000
7. Knives Out (Lionsgate) $9,025,000
Cumulative: $130,257,000
8. Uncut Gems (A24) $7,820,000
Cumulative: $37,825,000
9. Bombshell (Lionsngate) $4,075,000
Cumulative: $24,569,000
10. Cats (Universal) $2,600,000
Cumulative: $21,179,000
Adeyemi’s relationship with lead Amandla Stenberg reportedly fell apart after the actress publicly discussed the author’s support of her casting.