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Posted December 30, 2019 by Mike Tyrkus in News
 
 

Box-Office Weekend: Rise of Skywalker Still the Top Dog

Easily holding onto the top spot of the box-office weekend was Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker, which made $72.0 million on the domestic front in its second weekend of release. This gives the final film of the “Skywalker Saga” a staggering two-week total of $361.8 million.

With a little less than half of the take that The Rise of Skywalker boasted, Jumanji: The Next Level took in $35.3 million and remained firmly ensconced in second place. The latest film in the popular series now boasts a three-week total of $175.5 million.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker posterDebuting in the top ten this week is director Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic Little Women, starring (among many other) Saoirse Ronan. The film made $16.5 million its opening weekend. Since its release on Christmas day, the film has brought in $29.0 million. Disney’s Frozen II finished neck and neck with Little Women at just about $16.5 million but ultimately was relegated to fourth to make way for the newcomer. But all is not lost as the animated sequel now sports a staggering six-week tally of $421.3 million.

The other debut this week, the animated film Spies in Disguise, took in $13.2 million over the weekend—landing it in fifth place—and $22.1 million total during its first week of release. This pushed last week’s fifth-place film, Knives Out, to sixth place where the film made $9.7 million and now boasts a five-week cumulative total of $110.2 million.

The third new(ish) release this week, Uncut Gems, finished in seventh place with a $9.6 million showing over the weekend and raising its three-week total to $20.0 million over the course of its first week of wide release. Elsewhere, the live-action rendition of the critically-derided adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Cats made $4.8 million its second weekend of release and now sports a disappointing two-week tally of $17.8 million as it looks poised to leave the top ten in the not too distant future.

Falling from sixth place last week to ninth this week was the Charlize Theron vehicle Bombshell, directed by Jay Roach, which made $4.7 million in its third week of release and can now claim a grand total of $15.6 million. Similarly dropping in the box-office weekend top ten, was director Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, which fell from seventh place to the final spot on our list taking in $3.0 million over the weekend. The film has now made $16.1 million during its first three weeks in release.

Another three films said goodbye to the top ten this weekend as Queen & Slim, Black Christmas, and Ford v Ferrari were all pushed out. Queen & Slim made $1.8 million over the weekend and holds a $40.2 million total for its first five weeks in release. Similarly, Ford v Ferrari, finished with $1.8 million over the weekend and a seven-week total of $106.1 million. Finally, the holiday-themed horror remake Black Christmas leaves the top ten with a showing of less than a million over the past week and a three-week cumulative total of $9.6 million (a performance that hopefully ensures we won’t be subjected to a Black Christmas 2).

Look for the weekend box office to remain relatively unchanged next weekend as the only new wide release is set to be The Grudge, which shouldn’t be holding anything over the films currently occupying the top ten.

Weekend Box Office (December 27th – December 29th)

  1. Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker…$72.0 Million
  2. Jumanji: The Next Level…$35.3 Million
  3. Little Women…$16.5 Million
  4. Frozen II…$16.5 Million
  5. Spies in Disguise…$13.2 Million
  6. Knives Out…$9.7 Million
  7. Uncut Gems…$9.6 Million
  8. Cats…$4.8 Million
  9. Bombshell…$4.7 Million
  10. Richard Jewell…$3.0 Million
Mike Tyrkus

Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.
Mike Tyrkus

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