Weekend Wrap-Up
by Tim Briody
January 27, 2019
It's a quiet late January weekend as the doldrums have set in and the new releases barely register. It's not quite The Void, but it does feel like Hollywood took a week or two off (or maybe the expectation was that Glass would dominate) before we get to some more interesting and/or exciting February releases.
Glass does stay on top for a second weekend, but shatters with a 53% decline from opening weekend to $19 million and $73.5 million in two weekends (now easily the #1 film of 2019, a title it shall hold for about two weeks). Unlike Split, which was well received and only had a 36% decline in its second weekend, this is where the bad reviews sunk Glass. The conclusion of M. Night Shyamalan's unexpected trilogy definitely won't match the $138.1 million of Split, and right now it's looking at around $100 million (which would be more than Unbreakable's $95 million, but that was a completely different box office era). Glass is lucky there doesn't appear to be anything of note to threaten it at the top next weekend, so it's the favorite to be at the top, but at barely $10 million. The bright side is it was made for only $20 million, so it's still a very profitable venture for Universal.
The Upside is going to be one of the leggiest films of 2019, adding $12.2 million, down just 18% and earning $63.1 million in three weekends. A big score for STX, there's actually a chance it can win Super Bowl weekend next week with the lack of quality new releases and Glass cratering quickly.
Aquaman continues to prove everybody wrong with $7.3 million and $316.5 million since Christmas weekend six weeks ago. Remember when the main plot point of Entourage was that he got cast as Aquaman? Just kidding, I never watched that show either.
The big opener this weekend, The Kid Who Would Be King, comes in with a disappointing $7.2 million. Though actually, I'm not quite sure disappointing is the correct word to use. It's a very ...British film and despite good reviews (and it's the follow up from the director of cult film Attack The Block, which gave us John Boyega and Jodie Whittaker among other people), it's a tough sell over here, and wasn't able to catch on as a family film despite some heavy advertising. It's not out in the UK for a couple more weeks, and this may just be a way to get some extra box office since it's more than likely to be a hit over there. It's looking at less than $20 million in North America, however.
With its expected Best Animated Film nomination (and as the one everyone will be rooting for to win it), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse continues to get closer to the $200 million mark, with $6.1 million this week and a total of $169 million in seven weekends. That's a bit of a long shot, but it would be well deserved to reach it. $190 million maybe the final landing point.
The only notable impact the Academy Award nominations had on box office this weekend was with the film in sixth place, Green Book. Expanding from 912 to 2,430 theaters (considerably more than its original release) on the heels of five nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Film About How There's No More Racism, Green Book earned $5.4 million this weekend and has $49 million total, not bad considering it opened over Thanksgiving. (The top nominee and probable Best Picture frontrunner, The Favourite, tripled its screen count and box office, earning $2.5 million but finishes 13th this weekend.)
A Dog's Way Home continues to hold pretty well, sliding 27% to $5.2 million in its third weekend, giving it $30.8 total to date. I've run out of things to say about this one already. It's about a dog. That's kind of all you need to know.
Serenity was your other opener this weekend and it finished in eighth place with $4.8 million. Despite the impressive cast, it rated just 21% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. While it seems to be destined to be forgotten forever after this weekend, there are murmurs of "you have to see how bad it is" so it may end up a popular choice on the streaming sites later on this year. For now, it won't come close to making back its $25 million budget.
Escape Room adds $4.2 million in its fourth weekend and has a total of $47.9 million, a solid return on investment with its $9 million budget.
After last weekend's big surprise, Dragon Ball Super: Broly manages to cling to a top ten spot despite falling 63% to $3.6 million. Still, that's $28.8 million after ten days in theaters, all gravy after breaking some box office records in Japan and reportedly only costing $8.5 million.
The top 12 films this week could only manage $81.3 million, well down from last year's $110.5 million when Maze Runner: The Death Cure won the weekend with $24.1 million. Pretty sure most weeks in 2019 will be a disappointment when compared to last year, considering it contained three of the biggest films of all time.
Next weekend, Hollywood punts again, but this time it's somewhat appropriate given that it's Super Bowl weekend, and the only wide release is Miss Bala, a female led action thriller starring Gina Rodriguez.
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Top Ten for Weekend of January 25-27, 2019
|
Rank |
Film |
Distributor |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
Weekly Change |
Cumulative
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
Glass
|
Universal
|
19.0
|
-53%
|
73.5
|
|
2
|
The Upside
|
STX Entertainment
|
12.2
|
-18%
|
63.14
|
|
3
|
Aquaman
|
Warner Bros.
|
7.5
|
-28%
|
316.5
|
|
4
|
The Kid Who Would Be King
|
20th Century Fox
|
7.2
|
New
|
7.2
|
|
5
|
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
|
Sony Pictures
|
6.1
|
-19%
|
169.0
|
|
6
|
Green Book
|
Universal
|
541
|
+150%
|
49.0
|
|
7
|
A Dog's Way Home
|
Sony Pictures
|
5.2
|
-27%
|
30.8
|
|
8
|
Serenity
|
Aviron Pictures
|
4.8
|
New
|
4.8
|
|
9
|
Escape Room
|
Sony Pictures
|
4.2
|
-24%
|
47.9
|
|
10
|
Dragon Ball Super: Broly
|
FUNimation
|
3.6
|
-63%
|
28.8
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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