Fox Controls Close To 40% Of Weekend B.O. Led By ‘Maze Runner’ & Oscar Holdovers; ‘Hostiles’ Gallops Toward $10M
20th Century Fox Film
Friday night Writethru: It’s all about 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight this weekend.
Not only does Disney’s purchase own the top spot at the box office with its threequel Maze Runner: The Death Cure ringing up an estimated $23.7 million opening at 3,787 theaters, but with four other Oscar-nominated titles on the chart — The Greatest Showman, The Post, and Searchlight’s The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside, Ebbing Missouri — the studio is commanding close to 40% of this weekend’s estimated $129.5M ticket sales. All in, Fox product controls five out of the top 11 slots on the B.O. chart.
Disney, are you taking note? If there’s any thought of attrition in this pending merger, the Burbank lot may want to think twice given the vibrant wattage of this brand and its classic unit, not just at the B.O. but in the awards sphere.
The Greatest Showman is holding like a rock in its sixth weekend with $9.4M (-12%) in 4th place and a running total by Sunday of $126.3M — and that’s off one Oscar nomination for best song, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s “This is Me.” (You’ll remember those guys won the best song Oscar last year for La La Land‘s “City of Stars.”). It’s just further proof how much the original musical can resonate on the big screen, especially in the wake of La La Land ($151.1M domestic B.O.).
Then there’s Fox’s release of DreamWorks/Participant’s The Post in 5th with $8.7M in weekend 6. But this Steven Spielberg pic’s business isn’t just fueled by a best picture Oscar nom, and a best actress one for Meryl Streep: Audiences genuinely love this movie and are flocking to this #RealNews feature, a catharsis for left wing audiences in these trying Trump times. Total B.O. by Sunday is an estimated $58.3M.
Searchlight jumped Guillermo del Toro’s 13-Oscar nominated fantasy romance The Shape of Water from 853 locations to its widest point ever of 1,854; it’s poised to make $5.4M taking its cume in weekend 9 to $37.1M. Three Billboards was at its widest in weekend 5 at 1,620 venues, and the pic is at its second-widest point of 1,457 this weekend with $3.8M propped by seven Oscar noms. Total B.O. by Sunday is an estimated $37.1M.
Big props to Entertainment Studios’ Western Hostiles which is beating its low single figure tracking with a third place take of $9.8M in its wide break at 2,815 theaters.This western was intended to be Entertainment Studios’ Oscar contender, specifically for Christian Bale in the best actor category. While that unfortunately did not happen despite the distributor’s campaigning, it’s a bittersweet weekend for them because Hostiles in its wide break is beating all other Oscar contenders at the box office.
Bale reteams with his Out of the Furnace director Scott Cooper and plays a legendary Army captain who escorts a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory. Entertainment Studios boss Byron Allen knew the flyover states would be stoked by Hostiles, and he put his focus on targeting the pic there. Earlier on Friday, we heard that Hostiles was the No. 2 title in most theaters behind Death Cure. It would not be surprising if this pic clicks well past $10M. Allen snapped up Hostiles out of TIFF for reportedly $4M, and by the end of this weekend, the film rental alone should cover that cost before the estimated $20M-$30M P&A. Allen is a passionate supporter of indie films getting their shot on the big screen and not be relegated to streaming. Bale also tubthumped the film appearing on such shows as CBS This Morning and Extra. Hostiles received an overall B CinemaScore which is in line with 3:10 to Yuma, and just under the B+ earned by the Coen Brothers’ True Grit.
Below is our TIFF interview with Cooper, Bale and the cast of Hostiles:
Sony’s invincible Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle takes 2nd place with an estimated $15.4M off a projected $3.6M Friday. Weekend 6 of the Jake Kasdan film is down 21% with a running total by Sunday of $337M, which will make it Sony’s third highest-grossing film at the domestic box office of all time overtaking Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 ($336.5M).
CHART coming…
1..) Maze Runner: Death Cure (FOX), 3,787 theaters / $8.4M Fri (includes $1.5M previews)/3-day: $23.7M /Wk 1
2..) Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle(SONY), 3,553 theaters (-151) / $3.6M Fri (-25%)/3-day: $15.4M (-21%)/Total:$337M/ Wk 6
3..) Hostiles (EST), 2,815 theaters (+2,696) / $3.56M Fri (+1800%) /3-day:$9.8M (+1593%)/Total: $11.7M/Wk 6
4..) The Greatest Showman (FOX), 2,663 theaters (-160) / $2.6M Fri (-14%) / 3-day: $9.4M (-12%)/Total: $126.3M/Wk 6
5..) The Post (FOX/DW), 2,640 theaters (-211) / $2.5M Fri (-29%) /3-day:$8.7M (-26%)/Total: $58.3M/Wk 6
6..) 12 Strong (WB/ALC), 3,018 theaters (+16) / $2.4M Fri (-58%)/3-day: $7.9M (-50%) /Total: $29M/Wk 2
7..) Den of Thieves (STX), 2,432 theaters / $2.2M Fri (-60%)/3-day: $7.3M (-52%) /Total: $27.4M/Wk 2
8…) Paddington 2 (WB), 2,792 theaters (-910)/ $1.2M Fri (-32%)/3-day: $5.7M (-29%)/Total: $32.1M/Wk 3
9..) The Shape of Water (FSL), 1,854 theaters (+1,001) / $1.5M Fri (+140%) /3-day: $5.4M (+147%)/Total: $37.4M/Wk 9
10..) Star Wars: The Last Jedi(DIS), 1,745 theaters (-711)/ $959K Fri (-41%)/3-day: $4M (-40%)/Total:$610.5M/ Wk 7
11..) Three Billboards… (FSL), 1,457 theaters (+503) / $991K Fri (+88%) /3-day: $3.8M (+96%)/Total: $37.1M/Wk 12
PREVIOUS, Friday, 7:22 AM: 20th Century Fox’s The Maze Runner: Death Cure, the last picture in the YA feature trilogy, got off to a $1.5 million start last night at 2,860 venues. Next to its predecessors, the first Maze Runner minted $1.1M from 2,200 10 PM showings back in September 2014, while a year later, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials improved upon that number with $1.7M.
There’s no question Maze Runner 3 will hit No. 1 this weekend. Fox is hoping for $20M at 3,787 venues, while others believe it could go as high as $23M. The Dylan O’Brien movie will have all the powers of PLF, Imax, and 3D working for it. In addition, Death Cure has the added perk of launching during a NFL-less weekend as we’re in the dead zone prior to the Super Bowl. Rotten Tomatoes score is at 44% Rotten, which is lower than the original movie (65% fresh) and Scorch Trials (46% Rotten).
Nonetheless, with its current weekend projection, threequelitis looks to be weighing down on Death Cure with the first pic opening to a $11.2M Friday ahead of a $32.5M weekend, and Scorch Trials earning $11M and a $30.3M opening. Maze Runner legged out a 3.1x to $102.4M stateside, while Scorch Trials did a 2.7x to $81.6M. Wes Ball returns for a third time in the director’s chair steering James Dashner’s sci-fi/dystopian future novel to the big screen. Estimated production cost for Death Cure is around $62M, which is just a tad north of what Scorch Trials cost ($61M).
Originally scheduled to open February 17 last year, Death Cure was delayed following O’Brien getting seriously injured during filming in March 2016. Death Cure was pushed first to February 9, then to this weekend.
Counting $321.6M, Sony’ mammoth Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is expected to take second with a 25% dip in Weekend 6 with an estimated $14M-$15M. It will overtake last summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming ($334.2M) to become the fourth highest-grossing title for the Culver City studio at the domestic B.O. behind Spider-Man ($403.7M), Spider-Man 2 ($373.5M) and Spider-Man 3 ($336.5M). Who knew in a Star Wars release year, we’d still be talking about Jumanji this far out?
While Death Cure is the only wide entry, Entertainment Studios’ Christian Bale Western Hostiles is also going wide from 119 theaters to 2,815 theaters today. The Scott Cooper-directed pic previewed in 1,893 theaters last night making $370,000. Running cume through its fifth week is $1.9M. Hostiles carries a $50M production cost. Entertainment Studios beat out Annapurna, Fox Searchlight and Netflix for stateside rights to the Western out of the Toronto Film Festival. Pic carries a 71% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score.
There’s also sevearl Oscar contenders breaking past 1,000 this weekend including The Shape of Water and Phantom Thread, to name a few. We’ll dive into those later this morning.
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