2020 At The Boxoffice (2 Viewers)

[Tino]

At this point in its run, TFA was already at $720 million.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Great holds for Jumanji and Knives Out.

It speaks to exhibitors' confidence in the movie that at the height of the Christmas busy season, with Star Wars contractually obligated for a huge number of screens, Knives Out has held onto 2,142 theaters in its sixth weekend.

 

[Malcolm R]

Next week, Jumanji will be #1.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Next week, Jumanji will be #1.

You don't think 1917 will be? I've seen projections that it will start with around $20 million in wide release. If that holds, it seems to have a good shot of opening at the top given how fast Rise of Skywalker is eroding.

 

[Tino]

Next weekend 1917 goes wide and should open at #1 with about $25 million per early tracking.

 

[Tino]

You don't think 1917 will be?

Of course it will. Maybe even higher than estimates. And word of mouth will be terrific so look for a long boxoffice run.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's worth noting that the industry trades are reporting Frozen II displaced the original Frozen this weekend as the #1 highest-grossing animated film at the worldwide box office.

The only problem with that is that the original Frozen is not the #1 animated film of all time worldwide.

I wish it were, but the #1 animated film of all time worldwide is the remake of The Lion King...which the trades are ignoring because Disney is ignoring because Disney considers it to be a live-action film.

Now, I think The Lion King remake is absolute garbage, and Frozen II deserves to claim the title of highest-grossing animated film and set things right in the world of animation grosses

But a film that is composed entirely (minus the single opening shot) of computer graphics is animated, whether Disney wants to admit that it is or not.

So, actually, Frozen II is now the #2 highest-grossing animated film ever worldwide and has not yet claimed the #1 position. I would very much like it to do that, but I think it is important for us to recognize reality as it is and not as Disney would like to pretend that it is. Ugh.

 

[Tino]

But considering how unpredictable box office has been lately you never know what will stick.

 

[Jake Lipson]

But considering how unpredictable box office has been lately you never know what will stick.

Right -- and for the record I am 100% rooting for Frozen II to outgross TLK2019 and actually become the highest-grossing animated film of all time. I do not like the fact that such a terrible movie currently holds the record. However, the record doesn't mean anything if Disney can move the goal posts however they want to suit their own narrative. So I think it is important to recognize that Frozen II has not yet passed that particular milestone. The Lion King is an animated film, and it is higher than Frozen II at the moment, so it still holds the record, regardless of what Disney claims.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It speaks to exhibitors' confidence in the movie that at the height of the Christmas busy season, with Star Wars contractually obligated for a huge number of screens, Knives Out has held onto 2,142 theaters in its sixth weekend.

There’s probably also something to be said for Knives Out offering exhibitors a much more favorable split at this point in its release. Twenty people seeing Knives Out might make them more than a hundred people seeing Star Wars.

I think the Star Wars huge opening also gave more opportunities for other movies to run, as paradoxical as that might seem. My local multiplex normally opens for business with a first showing around noon and a last showing around 10pm; on the weekends, that’s more like 11am to start and 11pm for the last showing. But with Star Wars playing more showings than a normal weekend, showtimes at the theater began at 9am on weekdays, 8am on weekends, and went until midnight or later. I got to see Knives Out precisely because there were more showings at more varied times because the theater was open more hours of the day due to Star Wars. I can’t be the only one who had that experience.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

If Uni thought "Cats" might emulate "Greatest Showman" and bounce back after a lousy opening... nope.

It's not even benefiting from the "hate watching" some thought might buoy it!

 

[Jake Lipson]

It's not even benefiting from the "hate watching" some thought might buoy it!

This was always a weird theory to me. With as much as it costs to go to the theater, why should people go pay for something they know will be bad?

 

[TravisR]

This was always a weird theory to me. With as much as it costs to go to the theater, why should people go pay for something they know will be bad?

To laugh. I'm not big on ironically watching a movie but plenty of people do. When I saw Star Wars over the holidays, I saw a pair of hipster kids wearing a cat onesie (or whatever the hell those things are called) and I can only imagine they were going to mock the movie. Either that or they were like that one dude I read about who took mushrooms before seeing Cats and it freaked him out.

 

[Malcolm R]

Yep, probably more laughs than most comedies released these days.

 

[Wayne_j]

People go to screenings of notoriously bad films all the time.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Pray.

And speaking of other potential disasters, I think it's funny that Disney has yet to remove The New Mutants from its scheduled April 3 debut. There's no way that's happening.

I didn't think it would either, but the trailer just came out and it looks like it will be coming April 3rd after all.

EDIT: Nevermind....I didn't realize you guys had already been discussing this in the New Mutants thread.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The first Charting with Dan of 2020, covering everything that has happened since The Rise of Skywalker opening, because they went on holiday hiatus prior to its opening.

 

[Wayne_j]

I like Dan's potential countdown to New Mutants since they still aren't convinced it will actually open. I myself am much more convinced it will be released today than I was a week ago.

 

[Tino]

Box Office Predictions for 2020: From Surefire Hits to Potential Busts

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/...to-die-wonder-woman-2-black-widow-1203458263/

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Box Office Predictions for 2020: From Surefire Hits to Potential Busts

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/...to-die-wonder-woman-2-black-widow-1203458263/

Interesting, and I mostly agree.

Don't view "In the Heights" as a "safe bet", though. Not sure Lin-Manuel is quite as much of a "household name" as the author believes, and musicals tend to be iffy prospects...