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Posted December 13, 2021 by Mike Tyrkus in News
 
 

Box-Office Weekend: West Side Story Unseats Encanto


Director Steven Spielberg and his version of the classic West Side Story claimed the top spot from Disney’s Encanto for the box-office weekend, though it only did so by the slim margin of $1.1 million.

West Side Story posterSpielberg’s film made $10.5 million over the weekend, which was enough to land it the number one slot of this weekend’s top ten. Although that might not have been the big opening weekend the studio had expected for West Side Story, it still finished ahead of last weekend’s top film, Encanto, which brought in $9.4 million. This gives the latest Disney film a three-week total of $71.3 million. As usually happens when a new top film is crowned, all of the films from last week slip at least one place in the rankings. This fate befell Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which finished in the third spot this weekend with $7.1 million, giving it a four-week total of $112 million. House of Gucci also fell one rung of the box-office ladder to finish in fourth place with $4.1 million. That film now sports a three-week total of $41 million. Meanwhile, Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers was replaced in the fifth spot this weekend by Marvel’s Eternals, which added $3.1 million over the weekend to give the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe a six-week tally of $161.2 million.

Holding steady in sixth place was the most recent film in the “Resident Evil” series – Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. The film made $1.7 million over the weekend to boost its three-week total to $15.9 million. Also climbing a spot was Clifford the Big Red Dog, which gained one spot in this week’s countdown to finish in seventh place with $1.3 million. The family film now sports a five-week total of $47.7 million. Last week’s fourth-place debut – Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers – fell to eighth place over this past weekend earning only $1.3 million. The film now boasts a two-week total of $13.4 million. Meanwhile, Dune: Part One, fell two spots this weekend, finishing in ninth place with $857,000. This gives the science-fiction epic an eight-week tally of $106.2 million. Finally, climbing back into the top ten this weekend after a very brief absence was Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which added $850,000 over the weekend to give the film an eleven-week total of $212.1 million.

Another two films were pushed from the weekend box-office top ten, including King Richard and Sword Art Online: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night. Will Smith and King Richard leave the top ten after earning $14.4 million during the film’s first four weeks of release. Meanwhile, Sword Art Online: Progressive – Aria of a Starless Night leaves the top ten after debuting in the tenth spot last weekend, with a total of $1.1 million in its bank. Next week with see the arrival of Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, which should succeed in making some sort of impact in the weekend tallies.

Weekend Box Office (December 10th – December 12th)

  1. West Side Story…$10.5 Million
  2. Encanto…$9.4 Million
  3. Ghostbusters: Afterlife…$7.1 Million
  4. House of Gucci…$4.1 Million
  5. Eternals…$3.1 Million
  6. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City…$1.7 Million
  7. Clifford the Big Red Dog…$1.3 Million
  8. Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers…$1.3 Million
  9. Dune: Part One…$857,000
  10. Venom: Let There Be Carnage…$850,000
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.