Studio Weekend Box Office Report: Bad Boys for Life, 1917, Gretel & Hansel, The Rhythm Section

With many moviegoers opting to stay in and watch the big game Sunday, Super Bowl weekend was unsurprisingly slow again this year, albeit with a healthy uptick from 2019 when Glass repeated at the top of the heap for a third weekend with $9.5 million and Miss Bala made a so-so $6.8 million debut. Like Glass, Bad Boys for Life enjoyed its third straight weekend at No. 1 with an estimated $17.67 million, while newcomers Gretel & Hansel and The Rhythm Section underwhelmed in their respective openings.

Continuing its solid run, Sony’s Bad Boys for Life fell a not-bad 48% despite intense competition from the Super Bowl, bringing the total for the threequel to a strong $148.05 million. The Will Smith-Martin Lawrence actioner has now surpassed the domestic total for 2003’s Bad Boys II not adjusting for inflation, with still much more left in the tank and another sequel already in the works.

Holding steady in second place was Universal’s 1917, which brought in an estimated $9.66 million for a fantastic total of $119.25 million to date. As with Bad Boys for Life, the WWI drama’s 39% weekend-to-weekend decline is impressive given the fact that both films cater largely to an older male audience whose attentions were largely dominated by the Super Bowl on Sunday. It’s clearly also benefitting from strong buzz in the lead-up to the Oscars, where it’s nominated for 10 awards including Best Picture.

Dolittle repeated at No. 3 with an estimated $7.1 million, giving the family adventure $55.2 million through the end of its third weekend. The 36% decline for the Universal title is certainly good, though as we’ve stated before, the film’s massive $175 million reported budget is a steep hill to climb.

After turning in a healthy $10.6 million debut last weekend, STX’s The Gentlemen added around 500 screens and dipped 44% to an estimated $6.01 million, bringing the total for the Guy Ritchie-directed action comedy to $20.44 million after ten days of release.

Debuting in fifth place was Gretel & Hansel, a retelling of the classic Grimm fairytale that counts as the fourth major horror release of the young year to date. The just okay $6.05 million opening for the United Artists release represents the lowest debut of all of those films, coming in a notch below the openings of both last weekend’s The Turning ($6.9 million) and Underwater ($7 million) from earlier in the month.

Even with better-than-average reviews for the genre (it currently sits at 57% on Rotten Tomatoes) and a wide opening on over 3,000 screens, Gretel & Hansel’s prospects may well have been diminished by the overcrowded horror release slate. Indeed, 2018’s Super Bowl counter-programmer Winchester – another PG-13 horror film – finished with a much better $9.3 million despite garnering truly dismal reviews (14% on Rotten Tomatoes). When it was released, that film was the first major horror movie to have hit theaters in nearly a month, following the early January release of Insidious: The Last Key.

Jumanji: The Next Level continued its impressive run in sixth place with an estimated $6 million, giving the Sony release a superb $291.21 million to date. The family adventure sequel dipped just 22% weekend-to-weekend and is primed to finish its theatrical run well north of $300 million.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker finished in seventh with an estimated $3.2 million, bringing the Disney blockbuster to $507.1 million through the end of its seventh weekend.

In eighth place, Universal’s critically-derided The Turning dropped 56% to an estimated $3.05 million in it sophomore frame, giving the horror film $11.71 million to date.

Sony’s Little Women finished in ninth with an estimated $3.01 million, giving the hit Greta Gerwig adaptation a strong $98.7 million, with $100 million soon to follow.

Though it debuted in a very wide 3,049 locations, The Rhythm Section crashed and burned in its opening weekend with a very disappointing $2.8 million in tenth place. With a per-screen average of just $918, the Blake Lively revenge thriller now has the unfortunate distinction of being the worst-ever opener in more than 3,000 locations, “surpassing” long-standing champion Hoot ($3.4 million from 3,018 locations in 2006) for the title. The Paramount release, which the studio acquired for $30 million, suffered from largely negative reviews (33% on Rotten Tomatoes) and came in with an unremarkable “C+” Cinemascore. Notably, last year’s similar Miss Bala debuted with a considerably stronger $6.9 million over Super Bowl weekend despite opening on nearly 900 fewer screens.

Overseas Update:

Bad Boys for Life grossed an estimated $30.8 million overseas from 63 markets, giving it an international tally of $142.7 million to date and a global total of $291 million. Top markets for the threequel include the U.K. ($14.8 million), Germany ($12.7 million), Mexico ($10.5 million) and Australia ($10 million). 

1917 took in an estimated $20.9 million from 61 overseas markets, bringing its international cume to $129.8 million and its global tally to $249.1 million.

Dolittle brought in an estimated $17.7 million in 63 territories, bringing the total for the Universal release to $71.4 million internationally and $126.6 million worldwide.


Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, JAN. 31 – SUN, FEB. 2

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Bad Boys For Life $17,675,000 -48% 3,705 -70 $4,771 $148,051,531 3 Sony / Columbia
2 1917 $9,660,000 -39% 3,987 50 $2,423 $119,246,389 6 Universal Pictures
3 Dolittle $7,700,000 -37% 3,750 -405 $2,053 $55,218,820 3 Universal
4 Gretel & Hansel $6,050,830 3,007 $2,012 $6,050,830 1 United Artists Releasing
5 The Gentlemen $6,010,000 -44% 2,675 510 $2,247 $20,441,089 2 STX Entertainment
6 Jumanji: The Next Level $6,000,000 -22% 2,945 -176 $2,037 $291,217,153 8 Sony Pictures
7 Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker $3,193,000 -43% 2,202 -598 $1,450 $507,056,021 7 Disney
8 The Turning $3,050,000 -56% 2,571 0 $1,186 $11,705,440 2 Universal Pictures
9 Little Women $3,015,000 -35% 2,301 -227 $1,310 $98,770,632 6 Sony Pictures
10 The Rhythm Section $2,800,000 3,049 $918 $2,800,000 1 Paramount
11 Knives Out $2,750,000 -22% 1,555 -122 $1,768 $155,734,764 10 Lionsgate
12 Just Mercy $2,355,000 -42% 1,807 -601 $1,303 $30,996,409 6 Warner Bros.
13 Frozen II $1,721,000 -35% 1,392 -358 $1,236 $472,358,370 11 Disney
14 Parasite $1,627,500 -18% 1,060 0 $1,535 $33,396,780 17 NEON
15 Jojo Rabbit $1,352,000 -4% 1,173 13 $1,153 $27,980,411 16 Fox Searchlight
16 Spies in Disguise $1,167,000 -34% 1,028 -295 $1,135 $63,577,126 6 20th Century Fox

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 2020 Oscar-Nominated Short Films $1,110,000 460 $2,413 $1,110,000 1 Magnolia Pictures
2 Ford v. Ferrari $683,000 -16% 924 120 $739 $115,378,854 12 20th Century Fox
3 Like a Boss $500,000 -67% 665 -1058 $752 $21,556,446 4 Paramount Pictures
4 Uncut Gems $473,056 -32% 492 2 $961 $48,422,409 8 A24
5 Weathering With You $405,845 -39% 224 -234 $1,812 $7,273,408 3 GKIDS
6 Underwater $362,000 -70% 601 -1076 $602 $16,720,806 4 20th Century Fox
7 Bombshell $325,000 -43% 478 -118 $680 $30,854,069 8 Lionsgate
8 Once Upon a Time In Hollywood $185,000 62% 619 294 $299 $142,080,661 28 Sony Pictures
9 Panga $126,000 -56% 102 0 $1,235 $501,796 2 FIP
10 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood $120,000 -40% 201 -39 $597 $61,146,514 11 Sony Pictures
11 The Song Of Names $75,349 -34% 140 -42 $538 $823,589 6 Sony Pictures Classics
12 Cats $73,000 -30% 105 -28 $695 $27,088,185 7 Universal Pictures

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Color Out Of Space $114,452 -47% 68 -13 $1,683 $576,558 2 RLJE Films
2 The Assistant $84,702 4 $21,176 $84,702 1 Bleecker Street
3 Pain and Glory $67,253 16% 59 -9 $1,140 $4,429,389 18 Sony Pictures Classics
4 Les Misérables (2020) $41,156 -28% 61 -8 $675 $277,316 4 Amazon Studios
5 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil $35,000 -29% 84 -6 $417 $113,880,681 16 Disney
6 Clemency $28,765 -70% 60 -65 $479 $313,111 6 Neon
7 The Traitor $25,530 3 $8,510 $25,530 1 Sony Pictures Classics
8 Incitement $21,750 2 $10,875 $21,750 1 Greenwich Entertainment
9 A Hidden Life $11,000 -68% 19 -24 $579 $1,722,572 8 Fox Searchlight
10 Beanpole $10,515 1 $10,515 $14,197 1 Kino Lorber Films
11 José $10,200 1 $10,200 $10,200 1 Outsider Pictures