2477502.jpg-r_640_360-f_jpg-q_x-xxyxx.jpg — “1917” Explodes to Great Opening

Diving into the weekend, it was Universal’s 1917 that caught audience’s attention, easily topping with a stunning debut during its expansion to wide release, channeling its exceptional reviews and many Oscar nominations. Otherwise, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker barely topped fellow holdover Jumanji: The Next Level while Like a Boss won over Just Mercy’s wide release expansion. Outside of the top five, Underwater sank to the depths of the ocean.

First and foremost, Universal’s expansion of 1917 led the charge with a remarkable 37M from 3,434 locations, averaging an impressive $10,774 per-screen. This not only beats its 20-25M pre-weekend expectations, but it also sets a new bar for films going from limited to wide. With comparisons, the movie is easily ahead of 2014’s Fury (23.7M) and even Unbroken (30.6M), and it opened right behind the likes of Lone Survivor which debuted to 37.8M in expansion, and ways behind the masterful Dunkirk (50.5M). The four films above have an average multiplier of 3.66x, which would mean a finish of around 135M, but considering the word-of-mouth, we are expecting more. Overseas, the 90M production debuted in 30 markets with 23.8M for a worldwide debut of 63.5M.

Review wise, 1917 garnered excellent reviews, and some wonderful audience reception. On Sweet and Sour, we gave it a nearly-perfect 95/100 “sweet”, calling it an “immersive, beautifully made film on WW1”. On Rotten Tomatoes, based on 325 reviews, they have it at a weighted average of 90% “Certified Fresh”, with a consensus reading: “Hard-hitting, immersive, and an impressive technical achievement, 1917 captures the trench warfare of World War I with raw, startling immediacy.” Audiences felt similar, giving it an 89% score on RT and an A- CinemaScore.

Secondly, Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker fell to runner-up after three weekends on top with 15.1M, indicating another sharp drop of 56% and a solid domestic total of 478.2M after 24 days of release. Internationally, the pic added another 24.2M, resulting in a foreign gross now standing at 511.6M and a worldwide total capping 989.9M as it prepares to top the one billion mark this week.

In third place was Sony’s Jumanji: The Next Level which slid 47% for a fifth weekend of 14M, giving way for a North American running cume of 257.1M. Overseas, The Next Level kept its stronghold, and has now grossed 414M foreignly and has reached an epic 671.1M globally.

Fourthly, Paramount’s new R-rated comedy Like a Boss made a buck or two, but didn’t surprise in any way, shape, or form, earning only 10M in its opening weekend. Pre-weekend expectations were a little higher than the turn-out, with analysts expecting around 12-15M, with the studio projecting 10-12M. Reviews were extremely negative and audiences gave it a B CinemaScore.

Rounding out the top five was WB’s expansion of Just Mercy, which earned 9.7M from 2,375 locations, averaging $4,089 per-screen. Not terrific, but it’s an okay start, and it will need some good word-of-mouth. Good news is that the critical reception is generally positive and audiences gave it a pitch-perfect A+ CinemaScore, so hopefully it will have long enough legs.

In seventh position, we find Fox’s sci-fi horror flick Underwater which mostly sank to the bottom of the ocean, bringing in only 7M from 2,791 theaters. While this is in the middle of its conservative 5-10M expectations, it certainly failed to become the new Alien. What isn’t great either are the mixed reviews, the mediocre C CinemaScore and especially the reported 70M production budget.

Next weekend, we see two new nationwide releases hit the multiplex. First off, Sony will be bringing back Will Smith and Martin Lawrence for action comedy Bad Boys for Life in over 3,700 theaters (40-45M expectations) Secondly, Universal’s reboot of Dolittle starring Robert Downey Jr. will open to over 3,900 sites (25-30M expectations).

TOP FIVE:

1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Jumanji: The Next Level
Like a Boss
Just Mercy