Weekend Wrap-Up: Last Jedi Tops Expectations with $220.01 million, Ferdinand is a Distant Second Place
December 19, 2017
We already discussed Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s incredible debut yesterday, but there were other films that were in theaters over the weekend. The Last Jedi earned nearly 80% of the total weekend box office, so the rest of the box office had to settle for the leftovers. Ferdinand was a distant second with just $13.40 million, which is lower than our low expectations. Overall, the box office more than tripled from last week hitting $278 million. More importantly, it rose by 31% when compared to this weekend last year. Year-to-date, 2017 cut 2016’s lead by nearly $100 million in just one week. Granted, 2017 is still behind by $320 million or 3.0% at $10.10 billion to $10.42 billion. However, I just wanted 2017 to cut the lead to $250 million and that looks a lot more likely now than it did even a month ago.
We already talked about Star Wars: The Last Jedi’s weekend haul in detail. The only new information we didn’t have yesterday was the overall weekend numbers and therefore The Last Jedi’s share. It earned 79.2% of the total weekend box office, which is incredible. It is the biggest share for a number one film this year, topping Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, which previously held that mark at 75%. Interestingly, I checked what The Force Awakens managed and it was also 79.2%. In fact, The Last Jedi earned 79.201% and The Force Awakens earned 79.203%. The two films also earned identical reviews, both in terms of Tomatometer Score and the average score critics gave. Both films also earned an A from CinemaScore. The number of similarities between the two films’ performances is getting to be creepy.
Ferdinand was a distant second place, an astronomically distant second place with just $13.40 million. This is well below our expectations and is even below Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, which tried to take on The Force Awakens back in 2015. Granted, its reviews are much better, it scored an A from CinemaScore, and right now most kids are out of school for the holidays. However, this weak start is still very disappointing.
Coco came within a rounding error of expectations with $9.95 million over the weekend for a total of $150.74 million after four weeks of release. By comparison, Moana earned $12.73 million during the same weekend in its run and had a running tally of $162.92 million after four weeks of release. Coco also has a significantly lower theater average than Moana did, suggesting it will lose more theaters next weekend. On the other hand, Moana had to deal with Sing during its fifth weekend of release, while Coco won’t have direct competition for the rest of the year.
Wonder added $5.23 million to its running tally, which now sits at $109.08 million. The film is already one of the biggest surprise hits of the year and the Christmas holidays should give it a boost, thanks to its family-friendly nature.
Justice League rounded out the top five with $4.31 million over the weekend for a five-week total of $219.60 million. It did hold on better that expected; I truly thought The Last Jedi would have been the end of the film. That said, it’s too little, too late to save its financial prospects.
Just Getting Started was the only film in the sophomore class and it was destroyed plummeting 69% to $1.01 million over the weekend for a two-week total of $5.49 million. Its theater average is just $548, meaning it could be all but gone by Friday, as the new releases rush in to grab as many theaters as possible.
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi Comparisons
- Ferdinand Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Coco, Ferdinand, Justice League, Wonder, Star Wars Ep. VIII: The Last Jedi, Just Getting Started, Star Wars