By Chris Kavan - 02/04/18 at 06:37 PM CT
There aren't going to be a lot of fireworks at the box office. With only one new wide releases, the drama/horror film Winchester, it was a pretty lackluster weekend. Still, Jumanji and The Greatest Showman continued their respective great runs and Winchester, despite some blistering reviews, wasn't an outright disaster. The weekend is traditionally one of the slowest of the year, and this year was no exception, as it was down 11.6% compared to last year. Overall, however, studios have pretty much written off this unofficial holiday weekend, as couch potatoes nationwide have something better to do but next week should bring some much needed spark back into the box office.
1) JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
After briefly losing its crown to Maze Runner, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle returned to the top spot with a $11 million weekend and a new $352.6 million total. The film topped the $350 million mark with relative ease while also topping $855 million worldwide in the process. This is also the first time since Titanic that a December release has topped a February box office. It also has just a day or two before it tops Furious 7 ($353 million) to become Dwayne Johnson's biggest domestic release of all time. It also looks as if it will be able to catch up to Spider-Man 2 ($373 million) to become Sony's second-biggest domestic earner behind the original Spider-Man ($403 million). It also moved up to fourth place on Sony's all-time worldwide total, and looks like it should top Spider-Man: Homecoming ($880 million), Spectre ($881 million) and possibly Spider-Man 3 ($890 million) before it finally lets up.
2)
MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE
Swapping places, and dropping about 58% from its opening, Maze Runner: The Death Cure brought in $10.2 million in its second weekend out for a new total of $39.7 million. That is a bigger second-week drop than both The Scorch Trials (52%) and the original Maze Runner (46%). While the film isn't likely to make much more than $50 million or so in the states, it has already topped $130 million worldwide, so it should be in solid position to, if not end on a high note, at least end in respectable fashion.
3)
WINCHESTER
The lone new wide release over the weekend was the horror drama starring Helen Mirren as the widow and heiress of the Winchester fortune who found herself tormented by the spirits her husband's guns had killed and decided to placate them by building a massive, meandering mansion. Not screened for critics, the film was rather brutally skewered, but still managed a decent $9.25 million opening. That was in line with expectations as audiences gave it a "B-" Cinemascore and was made up of 58% female with 64% coming in over 25. Older audiences might be drawn to this because of Mirren, but with so many better adult options on the table right now, it's not going to do the film any favors. If the film can wind up in the $25-$30 million range, that should be just fine.
4)
THE GREATEST SHOWMAN
Don't panic just yet - but The Greatest Showman faced its biggest drop yet at a whopping 18.3% - but still remained firmly in its fourth place position with $7.8 million and a new total of $137.4 million. It has already topped Enchanched ($128 million) to become the second-highest grossing original musical of all time and looks poised to ultimately top La La Land ($151 million) to take that title outright. And it looks to top Les Miserables ($148 million) to become Hugh Jackman's highest-grossing film outside the X-Men franchise. With over $300 million worldwide to boot, The Greatest Showman has certainly lived up to its title and then some.
5)
HOSTILES
Rounding out the top five, the western drama Hostiles dipped 45.4% and took in $5.52 million for a new total of $21.23 million. Given the somewhat dour subject matter and overwhelming competition among audiences right now, that total is actually pretty darn good. If it tops the the $30 million mark or above, it should wind up in the red overall, with minimal overseas help, of course.
Outside the top five: No big milestones were broken this week, as several Oscar-nominated films continued to expand with I, Tonya having the best result, adding 490 theaters and jumping from 16th to 13th place with $2.55 million and new $22.64 million total (while it still fell about 15.6% compared to last weekend).
Next week brings us Fifty Shades Freed, the animated/live action Peter Rabbit and the true-life drama The 15:17 to Paris.
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