With no major releases for essentially the second weekend in a row following the Thanksgiving weekend, the most exciting thing that can be written about the box office is that it’s the first time that two animated films have ever taken the top two spots two weeks in a row. It’s not exactly the most noteworthy of achievements, especially with both films fairly deep in their run, but it’s the best with which we have to work this weekend. It looks like in its third weekend Ralph Breaks the Internet will narrowly capture the top spot over The Grinch, now in its fifth week of release. The former earned $16.1 million while the latter scored $15.1 million, giving the films $141 million and $223 million, respectively. The only real note of interest otherwise is that The Grinch is inching toward the $260 million total of How the Grinch Stole Christmas but will need a better-than-expected trajectory to pull it off, as it is currently expected to tap out at around $250 million.
Creed II held the third spot in its third week, scoring $10.3 million and bringing its overall total to just short of $100 million ($96 million). The first film finished with $109 million, so the sequel is obviously well within reach of the original. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is not doing particularly well, but with no new competition, it’s at least hanging out in the top five. At number four, it earned just $6.6 million this weekend to bring its four-week total to $145 million. It’s not going to get anywhere near the first film’s $234 million, but it’s earned $539 million worldwide, so far, so Warner Bros. has a hit on its hand in spite of its lukewarm stateside performance.
Bohemian Rhapsody is probably not going to clear $200 million, but with $5.7 million this weekend, its six-week total stands at an eye-popping $173 million and north of $550 million worldwide on a relatively cheap $52 million budget. With $5.9 million, Instant Family has now earned $53 million in four weeks, slightly better than its $48 million budget. There’s not much international box-office to bail this one out, however, so it will need to do well on the home digital market to make back its marketing cost.
With a lot of awards consideration, Green Book — initially a box-office disappointment — has managed to eke out a slow-but-sure performance over its four-week frame, reaching $19.8 million after a $3.7 million weekend. With a budget of $23 million, good word of mouth and more awards consideration may keep this one in theaters long enough to make it profitable. The same cannot be said of Robin Hood, which earned $3.3 million to bring its total to $27 million. It’s only managed to double that overseas, and with a $100 million budget, this is going to be a huge write-off for Lionsgate.
Closing out the top ten is The Possession of Hannah Grace and Widows, which earned $3.1 million and $3 million respectively, bringing their totals to $11.4 million and $38 million. Just below the top ten is The Star is Born, which saw a modest increase after scoring numerous Golden Globe nods, earning $2.5 million to bring its 10-week total to $197 million. Warner Brothers probably wants to keep this in theaters for another week or two to hit the $200 million mark, although it’s surely expected out on VOD soon.
A few awards contenders received limited releases this weekend or expanded into a few more theaters. Box-office wise, the best of the bunch is Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz’s The Favourite, which actually earned enough in only 91 theaters ($1.4 million) to reach number twelve on the charts. Meanwhile, on a per-screen basis, Mary Queen of Scots ($47,000 per screen) did better than Natalie Portman’s Vox Lux ($29,500 per location), which did better than Julia Roberts’ Ben is Back ($20,243 per screen). Finally, the rerelease of Spielberg’s Schindler’s List on its 25th Anniversary scored only $688,000 in over 1,000 theaters this weekend.
The bigger news this weekend was actually in China, where Jason Momoa’s Aquaman opened with a huge $94 million, the biggest bow ever for a WB film in China, and the fourth biggest opening for a superhero film
Next weekend, we will finally begin to see some action at the box office again. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse should lead the way with grosses in the $35 to $40 million range, followed by Mortal Engines and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule. The Favourite will also expand into 500 theaters while another awards contender, If Beale Street Could Talk, will open in a handful of locations.
Sources: Deadline, Box Office Mojo
