Weekend Wrap-Up
By Tim Briody
February 2, 2020
Bad Boys For Life continues to singlehandedly carry the 2020 box office as Super Bowl weekend brings two largely ignored new releases, though help is on the way.
With a third weekend of $17.6 million (down 48%), Bad Boys For Life becomes the biggest January new release ever, with $148 million. The previous record was Paul Blart: Mall Cop with $146.3 million in 2009. It also became the biggest film in the Bad Boys franchise, passing the $138.5 Bad Boys II earned in 2003. The utter lack of quality among the other releases this month has probably been the biggest cause of the sequel's success ,because I don't really have another explanation for this, as Will Smith wasn't exactly on a hot streak (Aladdin notwithstanding) and Martin Lawrence hadn't done anything in years. With a $90 million budget, it's approaching $300 million worldwide and we definitely won't have to wait 17 years for a fourth installment. Although that would be hilarious.
Probable Best Picture frontrunner 1917 adds $9.6 million and has $119.2 million in four weekends in wide release. The "one continuous shot" gimmick has obviously been to its benefit, though of course being one of the few big nominees still in wide release has helped as well.
Robert Downey Jr.'s Dolittle adds $7.7 million and has $55.2 million in three weekends. If it didn't cost a supposed $175 million, that wouldn't be so bad. But it did and it is. It's not a Cats-like performance but again shows that success in the MCU hasn't carried over to anything else.
The first opener of the weekend lands in fourth place as Gretel & Hansel opens with $6 million. The good news here is it cost $5 million to make, but it pretty much ends there. The United Artists release went for a stylized dark horror take with a slight twist (thus the title), but nobody was biting.
Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen slides 44% to $6 million and has $20.4 million in two weekends. It cost $22 million to make and has doubled that worldwide (thanks mainly to Ritchie's native UK) so things are all right here.
Jumanji: The Next Level creeps closer to the promised land of $300 million with an eighth weekend of $6 million and $291.2 million to date. If Sony's planning a third one (and signs point to yes), they should act quickly.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a seventh weekend of $3.1 million and has $507 million to date. And so it's back to the drawing board for the Star Wars franchise, with the third planned spinoff shelved after the huge disappointment of Solo and mild disappointment (such as $500 million can be a disappointment) of Episode IX.
The Turning drops 56% from its opening weekend to $3 million and has $11.7 million in two weekends and it's just been a bad year if you're not called Bad Boys, which has singlehandedly kept 2020 ahead of 2019's box office (but wait for it.)
Little Women is almost the 30th and final $100 million film of 2019 with $3 million and $98.7 million since Christmas Day. Next weekend it should get there, a big win for this movie even if it'll end up shut out of any major Academy Award wins.
Our other opener lands with a thud in tenth place as the weirdly titled The Rhythm Section earns just $2.8 million. Starring Blake Lively in an action role, it was sunk by poor reviews (33% Fresh) and minimal advertising, and I think the title didn't help much either. With a $50 million budget, this one's gonna hurt.
Again buoyed by Bad Boys For Life, the top 12 films this weekend tallied up rung up $70.2 million, again besting last year when the sorry Super Bowl weekend movies earned just $56 million.
Next weekend brings some genuine excitement, maybe, with the release of Birds of Prey, the latest entry in the DC Extended Universe and ostensible Harley Quinn spinoff.
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Top Ten for Weekend of
|
Rank |
Film |
Distributor |
Estimated
Gross ($) |
Weekly Change |
Cumulative
Gross ($) |
|
1
|
Bad Boys For Life
|
Sony Pictures
|
17.6
|
-48%
|
148.0
|
|
2
|
1917
|
Universal
|
9.6
|
-39%
|
119.2
|
|
3
|
Dolittle
|
Universal
|
7.7
|
-37%
|
55.2
|
|
4
|
Gretel & Hansel
|
United Artists
|
6.0
|
New
|
6.0
|
|
5
|
The Gentlemen
|
STX Entertainment
|
6.0
|
-44%
|
20.4
|
|
6
|
Jumanji: The Next Level
|
Sony Pictures
|
6.0
|
-22%
|
219.2
|
|
7
|
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
|
Walt Disney
|
3.1
|
-43%
|
507.0
|
|
8
|
The Turning
|
Universal
|
3.0
|
-56%
|
11.7
|
|
9
|
Little Women
|
Sony Pictures
|
3.0
|
-35%
|
98.7
|
|
10
|
The Rhythm Section
|
Paramount
|
2.8
|
New
|
2.8
|
|
Box office data supplied by Exhibitor Relations
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