This past weekend saw an impressive five new wide releases hit theaters here in the United States, but they were no match for the power of Star Wars. Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi was once again king of the box office in its second week, and you can see the full breakdown of the numbers in the Top 10 below:
Following the outstanding opening weekend for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the numbers were destined to come down to Earth, but they were still more than enough to keep the film in first place. In fact, the eighth chapter in the Star Wars saga dropped 68 percent, but still managed to make more than double its nearest competitor. People are still very much buzzing about the blockbuster, and folks are flooding to theaters as both fans and to be a part of the national conversation.
Of course, domestic numbers only show a part of what the latest Star Wars movie has been doing at the box office. The $365 million haul that the film has managed to bring in over the last 10 days is ultimately just a percentage of the figures its putting up around the world. Internationally it has made more than double that score, with a total of $745,388,356, according to Box Office Mojo. That's enough to make Star Wars: The Last Jedi the fifth most successful title in the franchise - now sneaking up on 2005's Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and its global total of $848.8 million. That said, it has a long way to go before it can match its direct predecessor in the main series of movies, as that film managed to make over $2 billion before the time it was done.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is clearly stealing a lot of attention at the movies these days, but as mentioned earlier that didn't stop five new major releases from cramming into theaters just in time for Christmas. As you would expect, the results are a mixed bag. As you can clearly see, the big winner is the years-later-sequel Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which managed to make a little less than $14 million more than Pitch Perfect 3 for the #2 slot this weekend. It's a nice total, particularly when you add the fact that it's made a total of $50.6 million since arriving in theaters this past Wednesday, but it's still going to have to go a long way before justifying the reported $90 million budget. The good news for Sony is that the buzz is strong, with critics widely giving it the thumbs up, and CinemaScore revealing an A- rating.
That leaves us to mention The Greatest Showman, Downsizing, and Father Figures - none of which managed to put up much of a fight. The musical starring Hugh Jackman has even further to go than Jumanji 2, given that it was made for nearly the same amount of money, and Paramount is going to have a hard time justifying the $68 million that went into the Matt Damon shrinking feature. The positive spin for Father Figures is that it probably didn't cost that much to make and market, but there's only so much shine that can be put on a ninth place opening that brings in $3.2 million.
Next weekend will be a strange one, as there are zero new releases coming out on Friday, but Ridley Scott's All The Money In The World is hitting wide release on Christmas Day (a.k.a. tomorrow), and both Aaron Sorkin's Molly's Game and Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread will be going limited to qualify for Oscar runs. Check back in with us next Sunday to see how all of the releases shape the Top 10!
