“The Rise of Skywalker” Repeats on Last Weekend of 2019

By: Keaton Marcus

Diving into the weekend, it was Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker who easily repeated on top of the box office over the holidays. However, Jumanji: The Next Level had a stellar third weekend in runner-up, while new release Little Women was slightly promising in third, beating out holdover Frozen II and other newcomer Spies in Disguise, which was mediocre in fifth.

First and foremost, Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker topped the box office again with an estimated 72M in ticket sales. This means a sharp drop of 59%, but because of its strong performance during the week, its North American total stands at an impressive 361.7M after 10 days of release. While the slide isn’t terrific, its still notably better than The Last Jedi’s 67.5% drop, and is similar to Avengers: Endgame’s 58.7%, which is marginally positive. While there’s still much ground to cover, we compare it to The Lion King, which nabbed over 351M after 10 days before finishing with 543.6M, and considering this, we are thinking anywhere from 520-600M.

Overseas, The Rise of Skywalker added another 94.3M from nearly every market, contributing to a foreign total capping 363M and a solid worldwide bout now topping 724.7M. This means that the ninth installment to the Skywalker saga is on its way to top the one billion mark, but how far will it get after? Next weekend, the 250-300M production will open in Vietnam, with the UK being its biggest market (51.4M).

In runner-up, Sony’s Jumanji: The Next Level had a stellar showing, earning 35.3M this weekend, increasing 33% over its sophomore frame. The sales give the sequel an impressive domestic total of 175.4M after just 17 days, which is around 35 million behind the original’s three weekend bout. Internationally, the pic added a terrific 61.6M, making for an overseas gross of 296M and a global total of 471.4M.

In third, Sony also thrived with their Little Women adaptation, which sold an estimated 16.525M over three days, giving way for a solid 29M on the five-day holiday. While the debut isn’t exactly explosive, it will be easy enough to turn a profit on its 40M production budget. The movie also started its overseas rollout, bringing in 6.3M from the UK and Spain, for a global launch of 35.3M.

Review wise, the critics thought it was nearly perfect, while audiences had a similar opinion. On Sweet and Sour, we gave it a very impressive 85/100 “sweet”, calling it a “timeless, and witty adaptation of the beloved novel”. Otherwise, RottenTomatoes has it at an excellent 95% “Certified Fresh” based on 260 reviews, with a consensus of: “With a stellar cast and a smart, sensitive retelling of its classic source material, Greta Gerwig’s Little Women proves some stories are truly timeless”. Audiences gave it a 93% approval rating on RT and an A- CinemaScore.

Fourthly, Disney’s Frozen II continued its strong performance with an estimated 16.5M, increasing 27% over last weekend and reaching a massive 421.2M domestically, topping the original’s 400M. Internationally, things are also getting closer with its predecessor, adding 42.2M for an overseas gross of 796.3M and a global total of 1.217 billion dollars.

Rounding out the top five was Fox’s Spies in Disguise which clambered to a three-day of only 13.2M from 3,508 theaters, carving way for 22M over the five-day holiday. This is pretty much on expectations, but it still isn’t great news for star Will Smith, who recently acted in flop Gemini Man. Internationally, it brought in an estimated 16M for a global launch of 38M. The film received generally positive reviews and an A- CinemaScore.

Outside the top five, A24 expanded their release of Uncut Gems, which grossed 9.5M from 2,348 theaters in three days, and an impressive 18.8M over the five-day, giving it a domestic total topping 20M.

Next weekend, we see one new wide release likely to debut under The Rise of Skywalker. This is Sony’s horror reboot of The Grudge which will be released in over 2,500 locations.

TOP FIVE:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Jumanji: The Next Level
Little Women (2019)
Frozen II
Spies in Disguise