2018 At The Boxoffice (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

MPR seems to be doing about half the business of Aquaman, which surprises me. I thought Aquaman would be number one for the holiday, but I thought the totals would be much closer. It'll be interesting to see which has better legs.

So far, it hasn't been a great holiday season for Disney, with Nutcracker failing to find an audience and MPR seeming soft here at the opening. The holidays have belonged to Universal (The Grinch) and Warner (Aquaman).

 

[Jake Lipson]

From Deadline:

We had heard for quite some time that test scores for Holmes & Watson were so bad that Sony tried unloading the movie to Netflix, but the streamer wouldn’t buy it. The Culver City lot kept the movie and opted to do the best that it could do with it, selling down its share on the movie with Mimran Schur Pictures taking a minority stake.

I can't say I'm surprised by that movie tanking. I don't know anyone who wants to see it. Still...wow. Something even content-hungry Netflix wouldn't buy. That says a lot.

 

[Jake Lipson]

So far, it hasn't been a great holiday season for Disney, with Nutcracker failing to find an audience and MPR seeming soft here at the opening. The holidays have belonged to Universal (The Grinch) and Warner (Aquaman).

You missed one: Ralph Breaks the Internet is currently at $165 million domestic, which isn't exactly a bad result for Disney but is still considerably behind the final gross of the original, which did $189m in 2012. Obviously The Grinch took a bigger bite out of Ralph than Disney expected would be the case. When you consider ticket price inflation, it's obvious that despite Wreck-It Ralph being generally well-liked, there are lots of people who came out last time who didn't return for the sequel, which is obviously not what Disney wanted.

To be fair, Warner also had a problem spot with The Crimes of Grindelwald, which is only at $154 million domestic to date and is way off from the first Fantastic Beasts on both a domestic and international basis. So, while Aquaman is certainly working for them, they've got issues to address regarding the long-term health of the wizarding world franchise.

Also, Universal is obviously delighted with The Grinch, but they're taking losses on First Man, Mortal Engines and Welcome to Marwen. So it's been a very mixed bag for them this holiday too.

 

[Malcolm R]

You missed one: Ralph Breaks the Internet is currently at $165 million domestic, which isn't exactly a bad result for Disney but is still considerably behind the final gross of the original, which did $189m in 2012. Obviously The Grinch took a bigger bite out of Ralph than Disney expected would be the case. When you consider ticket price inflation, it's obvious that despite Wreck-It Ralph being generally well-liked, there are lots of people who came out last time who didn't return for the sequel, which is obviously not what Disney wanted.

Yep, forgot about that one, though as you noted even that film seems to be fading faster than the first film. The domestic total isn't too far off through the same number of weeks, but it seems to only be doing about half the business of the first film internationally and that includes nearly $40m from China while I don't believe the first film was released there. Ralph 2 does still have a handful of other countries with later openings, but not likely to make up the difference.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Ralph 2 does still have a handful of other countries with later openings, but not likely to make up the difference.

I was about to point out its staggered release pattern before you did I think domestically Ralph fell victim to its proximity to The Grinch, since even though Ralph topped the box office at the start of its run, The Grinch held on better. The holiday theme (as well as the fact that everybody knows what they're going to get with The Grinch) probably helped make Grinch people's first choice, even though Ralph was better-reviewed.

Box Office Mojo's chart points out that Moana was at $190 million through the same point in its release two years ago. Its primary competition was the first Fantastic Beasts in November, and (to a degree) Rogue One in December. Rogue One wasn't competing as directly as Mary Poppins is for family audiences, Crimes of Grindelwald isn't performing as well as the first one, and there wasn't a competing animated feature like Grinch.

Disney will do better next November with Frozen 2, which should easily dominate the month without issue. Also, the combination of Black Panther/Infinity War/Incredibles 2 from earlier this year was so successful that Disney can withstand a few underperformers. But I still find it unfortunate that Ralph isn't doing better because I thought it was really terrific (especially the third act.)

 

[Wayne_j]

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 1 Aquaman WB $51,550,000 -23.5% 4,125 - $12,497 $188,785,000 - 2
2 2 Mary Poppins Returns BV $28,019,000 +19.1% 4,090 - $6,851 $98,929,758 - 2
3 3 Bumblebee Par. $20,500,000 -5.3% 3,550 - $5,775 $66,778,020 $135 2
4 4 Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Sony $18,315,000 +11.2% 3,813 - $4,803 $103,643,730 $90 3
5 5 The Mule WB $11,780,000 +24.0% 2,787 +131 $4,227 $60,738,465 $50 3
6 N Vice Annapurna $7,791,044 - 2,442 - $3,190 $17,697,159 - 1
7 N Holmes and Watson Sony $7,300,000 - 2,776 - $2,630 $19,706,408 $42 1
8 7 Second Act STX $7,210,000 +11.3% 2,607 - $2,766 $21,760,000 $16 2
9 8 Ralph Breaks the Internet BV $6,532,000 +38.9% 2,343 -152 $2,788 $175,713,583 $175 6
10 6 Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018) Uni. $4,200,000 -50.3% 2,555 -225 $1,644 $265,538,485 $75 8
11 10 Mary Queen of Scots Focus $2,655,000 +16.6% 841 +46 $3,157 $9,005,320 - 4

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Some great holds here, especially among the top three! We need to see more, not less, of movies performing like that.

 

[Malcolm R]

Biggest percentage boost was Ralph Breaks the Internet. Must be John Reilly fans avoiding Holmes & Watson going to see Ralph.

 

[Tino]

Well that’s the last weekend of 2018 fellas. 2019 sure seems to be loaded with potential blockbusters.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

The Mule is quietly hanging in there.

 

[Malcolm R]

The Mule is quietly hanging in there.

Kind of amazing to me, as it seems like his least interesting film project in years, IMO.

Also, the concern of some that it was possibly being released wide at the wrong time and would get trampled by the big FX films seems to be unfounded.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The Mule is quietly hanging in there.

Kind of amazing to me, as it seems like his least interesting film project in years, IMO.

Also, the concern of some that it was possibly being released wide at the wrong time and would get trampled by the big FX films seems to be unfounded.

I think it actually went up this week over last week.

I actually saw it yesterday precisely because it wasn’t a big FX film. I was in the mood for the type of midbudget film that’s practically extinct today, preferably something that wasn’t a 2 1/2 hour commitment, and this worked perfectly for that. Wasn’t the best, was far from the worst, and I left feeling like I had gotten what was advertised.

 

[Tino]

I think it actually went up this week over last week

Up 24%

 

[Jake Lipson]

And now Mary Poppins is beginning to display the legs expected. For me, it was a run-out-and-see-it-ASAP movie, but I can understand why I'm in the minority, and I'm glad to see it catching on with folks who don't mind being slower.

It will be over $100m by New Year's. I saw it again today with my family (the first time for them) and everyone liked it. It is obviously the beneficiary of strong word-of-mouth and I think it will be around. Disney doesn't have another release until Captain Marvel in March, so they'll be focused on sustaining this one for a while.

It's also now ahead of the comparable 12-day total for Into the Woods, $98 million to $92 million.

 

[Malcolm R]

Up 24%

It's also one of the only titles to add theaters this weekend (+131 screens).

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's also one of the only titles to add theaters this weekend (+131 screens).

That's interesting. There's such a crazy crunch of product crowding theaters right now that I wonder where those screens came from, in terms of what shed screens to make room for it and where it might have arrived that it wasn't already playing. Around here, not much closed this week, as theaters just continued to screen with a schedule similar to what they had for Christmas when Vice and Holmes & Watson opened. The Mule did not add showtimes, but it was already here.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I actually saw it yesterday precisely because it wasn’t a big FX film. I was in the mood for the type of midbudget film that’s practically extinct today, preferably something that wasn’t a 2 1/2 hour commitment, and this worked perfectly for that. Wasn’t the best, was far from the worst, and I left feeling like I had gotten what was advertised.

I think you hit the nail on the head. These days when studios talk about counter programming, they're talking about one blockbuster that skews heavily to one audience quadrant going up against another blockbuster that skews heavily to a different audience quadrant.

The Mule is true counterprogramming, the way it used to be discussed. The problem is that only big names like Clint Eastwood or Lady Gaga can get the studios to make mid-budget dramas these days.

 

[Malcolm R]

That's interesting. There's such a crazy crunch of product crowding theaters right now that I wonder where those screens came from, in terms of what shed screens to make room for it and where it might have arrived that it wasn't already playing. Around here, not much closed this week, as theaters just continued to screen with a schedule similar to what they had for Christmas when Vice and Holmes & Watson opened. The Mule did not add showtimes, but it was already here.

Bohemian Rhapsody dropped 300 screens last week, other titles dropping over 100 screens each were The Grinch (-225), Ralph Breaks the Internet (-152), Mortal Engines (-108), Green Book (-111), and Fantastic Beasts 2 (-167).

 

[Jake Lipson]

At my local theater, all of those titles you mentioned are still here. Mortal Engines has one showtime a day late at night, but it's there if someone really wants it. The Crimes of Grindelwald actually added a showtime to be shown twice a day (it was only once last week so I expected it was done for at Christmas), and Bohemian Rhapsody actually returned for two shows a day after being closed last week. I can't figure out the logic of some of these things, but there you go.

 

[Tino]

Top 100 films of 2018 Domestically. Per boxoffice mojo

1 Black Panther BV $700,059,566 4,084 $202,003,951 4,020 2/16 8/9
2 Avengers: Infinity War BV $678,815,482 4,474 $257,698,183 4,474 4/27 9/13
3 Incredibles 2 BV $608,581,744 4,410 $182,687,905 4,410 6/15 12/13
4 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Uni. $416,769,345 4,485 $148,024,610 4,475 6/22 10/4
5 Deadpool 2 Fox $318,491,426 4,349 $125,507,153 4,349 5/18 10/18
6 Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (2018) Uni. $265,499,485 4,141 $67,572,855 4,141 11/9 -
7 Mission: Impossible - Fallout Par. $220,159,104 4,395 $61,236,534 4,386 7/27 10/18
8 Ant-Man and the Wasp BV $216,648,740 4,206 $75,812,205 4,206 7/6 11/1
9 Solo: A Star Wars Story BV $213,767,512 4,381 $84,420,489 4,381 5/25 9/20
10 Venom (2018) Sony $213,205,181 4,250 $80,255,756 4,250 10/5 -
11 A Star is Born (2018) WB $201,046,727 3,904 $42,908,051 3,686 10/5 -
12 Aquaman WB $189,375,000 4,125 $67,400,000 4,125 12/21 -
13 Bohemian Rhapsody Fox $189,106,515 4,000 $51,061,119 4,000 11/2 -
14 A Quiet Place Par. $188,024,361 3,808 $50,203,562 3,508 4/6 8/2
15 Ralph Breaks the Internet BV $175,713,583 4,017 $56,237,634 4,017 11/21 -
16 Crazy Rich Asians WB $174,016,156 3,865 $26,510,140 3,384 8/15 -
17 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation Sony $167,510,016 4,267 $44,076,225 4,267 7/13 11/29
18 Halloween (2018) Uni. $159,326,595 3,990 $76,221,545 3,928 10/19 -
19 Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald WB $156,629,713 4,163 $62,163,104 4,163 11/16 -
20 The Meg WB $145,443,742 4,118 $45,402,195 4,118 8/10 11/1
21 Ocean's 8 WB $140,218,711 4,145 $41,607,378 4,145 6/8 9/20
22 Ready Player One WB $137,690,172 4,234 $41,764,050 4,234 3/29 7/5
23 Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again Uni. $120,634,935 3,514 $34,952,180 3,317 7/20 10/11
24 The Nun WB (NL) $117,450,119 3,876 $53,807,379 3,876 9/7 11/22
25 Peter Rabbit Sony $115,253,424 3,725 $25,010,928 3,725 2/9 6/14
26 Creed II MGM $112,167,276 3,752 $35,574,710 3,441 11/21 -
27 Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Sony $104,148,730 3,813 $35,363,376 3,813 12/14 -
28 The Equalizer 2 Sony $102,084,362 3,388 $36,011,640 3,388 7/20 9/20
29 Rampage (2018) WB (NL) $101,028,233 4,115 $35,753,093 4,101 4/13 7/26
30 A Wrinkle in Time BV $100,478,608 3,980 $33,123,609 3,980 3/9 7/5
31 Fifty Shades Freed Uni. $100,407,760 3,768 $38,560,195 3,768 2/9 4/5
32 Disney's Christopher Robin BV $99,215,042 3,602 $24,585,139 3,602 8/3 11/29
33 Mary Poppins Returns BV $98,929,758 4,090 $23,523,121 4,090 12/19 -
34 I Can Only Imagine RAtt. $83,482,352 2,894 $17,108,914 1,629 3/16 7/12
35 Smallfoot WB $82,624,719 4,131 $23,045,635 4,131 9/28 -
36 Night School (2018) Uni. $77,272,855 3,019 $27,257,615 3,010 9/28 -
37 Game Night WB (NL) $69,179,066 3,502 $17,005,332 3,488 2/23 6/21
38 The First Purge Uni. $69,086,325 3,038 $17,374,280 3,031 7/4 9/6
39 Book Club Par. $68,566,296 3,169 $13,582,231 2,781 5/18 8/9
40 The House With A Clock In Its Walls Uni. $68,514,765 3,592 $26,608,020 3,592 9/21 -
41 Skyscraper Uni. $67,796,355 3,822 $24,905,015 3,782 7/13 9/27
42 Insidious: The Last Key Uni. $67,560,690 3,150 $29,581,355 3,116 1/5 3/29
43 Bumblebee Par. $67,178,020 3,550 $21,654,047 3,550 12/21 -
44 Instant Family Par. $64,569,775 3,426 $14,504,315 3,286 11/16 -
45 The Mule WB $61,123,465 2,787 $17,509,431 2,588 12/14 -
46 Blockers Uni. $60,147,900 3,418 $20,556,350 3,379 4/6 8/2
47 Pacific Rim Uprising Uni. $59,587,110 3,708 $28,116,535 3,708 3/23 7/26
48 Tomb Raider WB $58,250,803 3,854 $23,633,317 3,854 3/16 5/31
49 Maze Runner: The Death Cure Fox $58,032,443 3,793 $24,167,011 3,787 1/26 5/3
50 Tag WB (NL) $54,730,625 3,382 $14,947,396 3,382 6/15 9/13
51 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms BV $54,555,150 3,766 $20,352,491 3,766 11/2 -
52 A Simple Favor LGF $53,548,586 3,102 $16,011,689 3,102 9/14 -
53 Life of the Party WB (NL) $53,059,911 3,656 $17,886,075 3,656 5/11 8/2
54 The Predator (2018) Fox $51,024,708 4,070 $24,632,284 4,037 9/14 11/29
55 Overboard (2018) PNT $50,316,123 2,006 $14,711,101 1,623 5/4 7/5
56 Sicario: Day of the Soldado Sony $50,072,235 3,055 $19,007,566 3,055 6/29 9/20
57 I Feel Pretty STX $48,795,601 3,440 $16,030,218 3,440 4/20 6/21
58 BlacKkKlansman Focus $48,271,960 1,914 $10,845,330 1,512 8/10 10/11
59 Red Sparrow Fox $46,874,505 3,064 $16,853,422 3,056 3/2 6/7
60 Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween Sony $46,700,633 3,723 $15,802,225 3,521 10/12 -
61 Breaking In (2018) Uni. $46,535,850 2,537 $17,630,285 2,537 5/11 8/2
62 12 Strong WB $45,819,713 3,018 $15,815,025 3,002 1/19 3/29
63 Den of Thieves STX $44,947,622 2,432 $15,206,108 2,432 1/19 3/22
64 First Man Uni. $44,891,255 3,640 $16,006,065 3,640 10/12 -
65 Hereditary A24 $44,069,456 2,998 $13,575,172 2,964 6/8 8/30
66 Tyler Perry's Acrimony LGF $43,549,096 2,006 $17,170,707 2,006 3/30 6/7
67 Sherlock Gnomes Par. $43,242,871 3,662 $10,604,774 3,662 3/23 6/14
68 Uncle Drew LG/S $42,469,946 2,742 $15,242,781 2,742 6/29 9/13
69 Widows Fox $41,729,331 2,803 $12,361,307 2,803 11/16 -
70 Truth or Dare Uni. $41,254,705 3,068 $18,667,855 3,029 4/13 7/26
71 Paddington 2 WB $40,891,591 3,702 $11,001,961 3,702 1/12 3/15
72 Love, Simon Fox $40,826,341 2,434 $11,756,244 2,402 3/16 6/14
73 The Commuter LGF $36,343,858 2,892 $13,701,452 2,892 1/12 3/15
74 The 15:17 to Paris WB $36,276,286 3,042 $12,554,286 3,042 2/9 4/12
75 Mile 22 STX $36,108,758 3,520 $13,710,825 3,520 8/17 10/4
76 Alpha Studio 8 $35,857,181 2,881 $10,352,512 2,719 8/17 11/22
77 Peppermint STX $35,418,723 2,980 $13,423,255 2,980 9/7 11/1
78 Death Wish (2018) MGM $34,017,028 2,882 $13,010,267 2,847 3/2 5/31
79 The Spy Who Dumped Me LGF $33,562,069 3,111 $12,103,043 3,111 8/3 9/27
80 Annihilation Par. $32,732,301 2,112 $11,071,584 2,012 2/23 4/19
81 Isle Of Dogs FoxS $32,015,231 1,947 $1,620,294 27 3/23 8/30
82 Nobody's Fool Par. $31,713,110 2,468 $13,743,111 2,468 11/2 -
83 Green Book Uni. $31,492,816 1,215 $320,429 25 11/16 -
84 Adrift STX $31,445,012 3,015 $11,603,039 3,015 6/1 8/2
85 Robin Hood (2018) LG/S $30,632,819 2,827 $9,195,670 2,827 11/21 -
86 Super Troopers 2 Fox $30,617,396 2,125 $15,181,624 2,038 4/20 7/12
87 Slender Man SGem $30,569,484 2,358 $11,371,866 2,358 8/10 -
88 Teen Titans Go! To The Movies WB $29,790,236 3,188 $10,411,189 3,188 7/27 10/11
89 The Hate U Give Fox $29,643,687 2,375 $512,035 36 10/5 -
90 Searching SGem $26,020,957 2,009 $388,769 9 8/24 11/15
91 Winchester LGF $25,091,816 2,480 $9,307,626 2,480 2/2 3/29
92 Strangers: Prey at Night Aviron $24,586,708 2,464 $10,402,271 2,464 3/9 5/31
93 White Boy Rick Studio 8 $24,011,188 2,504 $8,860,431 2,504 9/14 -
94 Won't You Be My Neighbor? Focus $22,609,437 893 $475,419 29 6/8 9/13
95 Second Act STX $21,910,000 2,607 $6,480,000 2,607 12/21 -
96 Overlord Par. $21,704,844 2,859 $10,202,108 2,859 11/9 -
97 Proud Mary SGem $20,877,013 2,125 $9,959,053 2,125 1/12 3/8
98 The Happytime Murders STX $20,706,452 3,256 $9,532,425 3,256 8/24 9/27
99 Superfly Sony $20,545,116 2,220 $6,870,740 2,220 6/13 8/9
100 Holmes and Watson Sony $19,826,408 2,776 $7,420,000 2,