Box-Office Weekend: Frozen II Maintains Icy Grip on Box Office
Only one film entered anew the top ten this past box-office weekend as Dark Waters cracked the list finishing in the sixth spot. Still standing tall above all challengers was last week’s top finisher, Frozen II, which added $34.7 million over the weekend, giving the film a three-week tally of $337.7 million.
Meanwhile, Knives Out held firm in the second spot of the three-day top ten with $14.2 million over the weekend, which gives the film a two-week total of $63.5 million. This allowed the film to yet again best Ford v Ferrari which languished in third place for another week earning $6.5 million, despite sporting a four-week cumulative total of $91.1 million.
Fourth and fifth placed swapped this week from last as Queen & Slim overtook A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood to finish in fourth, which means that the Tom Hanks vehicle fell to fifth in its third week of release. Queen & Slim added $6.5 million (just a few dollars away from Ford v. Ferrari) to give the film a two-week total of $26.9 million. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, however, took in $5.2 million, giving the film a three-week total of $43.1 million.
The drama, the aforementioned Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo, managed to pull in $4.1 million over the weekend to crack the top ten in its third week of release. Also, in its third week of release, the action crime drama, 21 Bridges, dropped to seventh place after earning almost half of its take last weekend as it brought in $2.9 million.
Also dropping one spot to finish in eighth place was Playing with Fire, which managed $2.0 million over the weekend, giving the film a five-week total of $42.0 million. Falling from the eighth to the ninth spot was Midway, which added $1.9 million, to give the film a disappointing total of $53.4 million over its first five weeks of release. But that certainly couldn’t be as disappointing as the paltry $660,000 that Playmobil: The Movie made over its opening weekend was.
Finally, Joker, dropped back to the tenth spot as it teeters on leaving the top ten, despite adding $1.0 million over the weekend. This gives the film an impressive ten-week haul of $332.1 million, all but ensuring a sequel is at least being considered on some level, or in some form.
Leaving the top ten this weekend, was the holiday-themed Last Christmas, which took in $1.0 million, giving the comedy a five-week total of $33.4 million.
Next weekend will see several new releases, including family-friendly fare like Jumanji: The Next Level and the new horror film remake Black Christmas as well as Richard Jewell from director Clint Eastwood, all of which will certainly attempt to dethrone Frozen II from the top of the weekend box-office.
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.