FOXA Fox Corporation

Associated Press 

Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Taraji P. Henson and Paddington Bear all rushed into movie theaters over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, but "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" still roared the loudest with an estimated $27 million in ticket sales, Friday to Sunday.

"Jumanji" easily remained the No. 1 film in North America despite an onslaught of new challengers, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Sony Pictures release is now approaching $300 million domestically and, after grossing $40 million in China this weekend, a world-wide total of $667 million.

Placing second was Steven Spielberg's Pentagon Papers drama, "The Post," starring Ms. Streep as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks as editor Ben Bradlee. The Twentieth Century Fox unit of 21st Century Fox Inc. was forecasting "The Post" would tally $18.6 million for the weekend and $22.2 million for the four-day holiday.

It was a solid result for "The Post" in its nationwide expansion after several weeks of limited release. Made for about $50 million and fast-tracked after the election of President Donald Trump, "The Post" is considered by many a timely commentary on the power of the press -- and a rebuke of Mr. Trump from some of Hollywood's biggest names.

"It resonates with an older audience because they were around and remember this particular moment in time," said Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson. "But it really resonates with a younger audience and that's the segment of the audience that will continue to discover this movie and realize how timely it is." Wall Street Journal parent News Corp. and 21st Century Fox share common ownership.

Strong box-office results could help resuscitate Oscar momentum for "The Post." The movie went home empty-handed from the Golden Globe Awards ceremony and wasn't nominated by the BAFTA Awards. Oscar nominations voting ended Friday.

Mr. Neeson's thriller, "The Commuter," landed in third place. The Lionsgate release, in partnership with Studiocanal, posted a modest opening of $13.5 million. The film is Mr. Neeson's fourth with director Jaume Collet-Serra, and it follows the box-office disappointments of the star's past three movies: "Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House," "Silence" and "Monster Calls."

The children's book adaptation sequel "Paddington 2" opened with $10.6 million. The film, originally to be distributed in North America over the Christmas holiday by the Weinstein Co., was sold to Warner Bros. after any association with the disgraced Weinstein Co. co-chairman Harvey Weinstein was deemed toxic for the film.

The juggled rollout of the movie -- plus the breakout success of "Jumanji" as the go-to family film -- might have hurt "Paddington 2." Despite rave reviews, it did about half the $19 million debut of its 2015 predecessor. It has done better overseas, where it has grossed $139.8 million thus far.

The R-rated "Proud Mary," starring Ms. Henson as an assassin, opened with $10 million. The movie drew criticism from musician John Fogerty, who accused the film of exploiting the title to his classic Creedence Clearwater Revival song.

The plethora of releases, along with a host of awards contenders in limited release (led by "Darkest Hour," with $4.5 million after Gary Oldman's Golden Globe win for best actor), pushed the weekend box office to about $190 million for the four-day holiday frame, according to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for market researcher comScore. Albeit shy of the 2015 record Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, when "American Sniper" opened, it is a strong start for Hollywood's 2018 after an up-and-down 2017.

"Jumanji," a reboot starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black, has now been the No. 1 film two weeks running, after spending its initial two weeks of release trailing "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

"This box-office trajectory of 'Jumanji' is somewhat unprecedented and certainly unexpected," Mr. Dergarabedian said. "Right now, it's the films that have been out there for a while that are inspiring the most enthusiasm and that's been tough for the newcomers."

"The Last Jedi," a Walt Disney Co. release, added $11.3 million in its fifth weekend and has grossed $591.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, ranking it as the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time domestically. This weekend, it passed Disney's own "Beauty and the Beast" to make it the top global release of 2017 with $1.264 billion world-wide.

But, perhaps suffering from effects of a backlash from some fans, "The Last Jedi" hasn't inspired the kind of repeat viewing that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" did. "The Last Jedi" is likely to come at least $700 million short of that 2015 release's global box office. Last weekend, "The Last Jedi" flopped in China (where "Star Wars" holds less cultural sway) with $28.7 million, or about half what "The Force Awakens" grossed in its first three days of release in China. A week later, "The Last Jedi" has already been largely pulled from Chinese theaters to make way for new Chinese releases and "Jumanji."

"Presumption is always that a 'Star Wars' movie will be the dominant force in the box-office universe pretty much for the entire time it's in the marketplace," Mr. Dergarabedian said. "But there is a very strong force with Dwayne Johnson. There are other forces at play here."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 15, 2018 19:10 ET (00:10 GMT)

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