Box Office Round Up - 1-16-2018

Sony’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle took the number one spot at the box office again over the long weekend with a $35 million haul. This is the second weekend in a row that the adventure film has taken the top spot, this week fending off three major wide releases. Coming in second is one of those new releases, Steven Spielberg’s The Post with $18.6 million. This should make CAA happy as they represent Spielberg, and stars Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep.
 
In third place was the Liam Neeson action film The Commuter, which took in $16 million, and out-performed most analyst expectations. This is also good for CAA as they represent director Jaume Collet-Serra, and stars Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, and Patrick Wilson. In fourth place, also with $16 million, is The Greatest Showman, still holding strong. And finishing up the top five, with $15 million, is Star Wars: The Last Jedi — an even further fall than expected. My hunch is that this is a result of Star Wars fatigue, and even though the film is the highest grossing movie of 2017, and has made $1.2 billion world wide, Disney’s plan of releasing a Star Wars movie every year until the heat death of the universe, might actually be shooting them in the foot.  
 
Outside the top five, Paddington 2 came in a disappointing sixth place. The week’s other new release, Proud Mary, came in eighth, while Insidious: The Last Key, Pitch Perfect 3, and The Darkest Hour held on in the seventh, ninth and tenth places, respectively.
 
Next week: Chris Hemsworth grabs a machine gun and hops on a horse to fight terrorists in 12 Strong. Gerard Butler and 50 Cent lead a Den of Thieves, and the mid January weepy Forever My Girl expands, as does the Christian Bale starring Civil War  drama Hostiles. Who will come out on top? Find out next week.
 
1.  Jumanji Welcome to the Jungle ($35 MM)
Dir: Jake Kasdan (WME)
Writers: Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers (UTA|Magnet Management), Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner (WME)  
 
Cast: Dwayne Johnson (WME)
         Kevin Hart (UTA|3 Arts)
         Karen Gillan (UTA)
 
2. The Post ($23 MM)
            Dir: Steven Spielberg (CAA|Zero Gravity Management)
            Writers: Liz Hannah (UTA|Echo Lake Management) Josh Singer (WME|Anonymous Content)
 
Cast: Meryl Streep (CAA)
         Tom Hanks (CAA)
         Jesse Plemons (Talent Works)
 
3. The Commuter ($16 MM)
Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra (CAA|Management 360)
 
Cast: Liam Neeson (CAA|Artists Rights Group - UK)
         Vera Farmiga (CAA|Authentic)
         Patrick Wilson (CAA|Anonymous Content)
 
4. The Greatest Showman ($16 MM)
Dir: Michael Gracey (CAA|Partizan - UK)
Writers: Jenny Bicks (UTA) and Bill Condon (WME|Anonymous Content)
 
Cast: Hugh Jackman (WME|Lou Coulson - UK)
         Michelle Williams (WME|Brillstein)
         Zendaya (CAA|Monster Talent Management)
 
5.  Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($15 MM)
Dir: Rian Johnson (CAA)
 
Cast: Daisy Ridley (CAA)
         Adam Driver (Gersh)
         John Boyega (WME|Identity Agency Group - UK)