Weekend Box Office Report: Sonic the Hedgehog, Fantasy Island, The Photograph, Parasite, Jumanji: The Next Level

10 in 10 In seventh place, Sony’s Jumanji: The Next Level achieved a feat usually accomplished by only a few films each year: 10 weekends in the top 10. With $5.5M for the three-day and $6.8M for the four-day holiday weekend, it becomes Sony’s first film to reach that longevity mark since predecessor Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle in February 2018. That film went on to spend 12 frames in that top tier. Level is the sixth title to reach 10 top-10 frames in the past year, along with Universal’s Green Book, Disney’s Avengers: Endgame, Disney’s Aladdin, Disney’s The Lion King, and Lionsgate’s Knives Out just last week. Knives fell to 12th place this frame, likely ensuring it won’t rise again to earn an 11th such weekend.
A Site to Behold Following its Academy Award win for Best Picture last weekend, Neon’s Parasite finally broke into the top 10, in eighth place. It had come very close to reaching that top tier several times, ranking 11th place on not one, not two, but three different frames during its run. Playing in 2,001 theaters, almost double its previous high of 1,060, the South Korean film became the widest foreign language release since 2004’s Kung Fu Hustle in 2,503 theaters. Parasite‘s post-Best Picture bump was noticeably higher than for other recent winners of the prize. Parasite rose +245% to $5.6M for the three-day weekend, or +304% to $6.6M for the four-day holiday weekend. For comparison, Green Book rose +115%, The Shape of Water rose +59%, Moonlight rose +227%, Spotlight rose +140%, and Birdman rose +119%. Of those, only Moonlight also had the best weekend of its run during that post-Oscars frame.
Don’t Hedge Your Bets Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog sped to one of the most surprising openings in recent memory, with $58.0M for the 3-day and $70.0M for the 4-day. For context, on one popular box office prediction website, the highest that any user predicted for the three-day weekend was $58.2M for the three-day. Among the “video games in real life” subgenre, its three-day weekend started +6.7% above Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and +38.9% above Ready Player One. The potential warning signs were myriad: star Jim Carrey hadn’t appeared in a $100M+ film since 2009, the videogame adaptation genre has produced more bombs than hits, and the original November 2019 release was delayed after the first trailer was criticized. Yet the film debuted higher than almost anybody expected, with an audience that was 56% male and 70% under age 25.
No Man is an Island Sony and Blumhouse’s horror Fantasy Island landed in third place with $12.3M for the three-day and $13.7M for the four-day holiday weekend, in line with pre-release projections. Compared to opening weekends for other Blumhouse horror titles, its three-day opening was =31.9% behind Ma and -34.0% behind Truth or Dare, but +29.6% above Happy Death Day 2U.
Say Cheese Universal’s romance The Photograph tried taking advantage of the Valentine’s Day weekend as the only real romance option in theaters. But it only started in fourth place with $12.1M for the three-day and $13.2M for the four-day holiday weekend.  For context, on one popular box office prediction website, $12.1M was the lowest that any user predicted for the three-day.
I’m Like a Bird, I’ll Only Fly Away Last weekend’s leader Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey fell to $17.1M for the three-day and $19.7M for the four-day holiday weekend. Compared to other DC Comics films, that -47.9% sophomore frame drop for the three-day was steeper than Aquaman with -23.2%, Joker with -41.9%, or Wonder Woman with -43.3%. However, it milder than Justice League with -56.2%, Suicide Squad with -67.4%, or Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice with -69.0%. Compared to other recent female-led action movies, its drop was steeper than Widows with -33.4%, but milder than Peppermint with -55.2%, Captain Marvel with -55.6%, or Charlie’s Angels with -61.2%.
How’d This Weekend Compare? Total box office this weekend was $155.9M for the three-day and $182.7M for the four-day extended holiday weekend. For the three-day, that’s +19.9% above last weekend. For the four-day, that’s also +19.9% above this same extended President’s Day weekend last year, when Alita: Battle Angel led with $33.5M. The Year So Far Year-to-date box office stands at $1.29B. That’s +6.8% above this same date last year, down from +7.6% after last weekend. While 2020 year-to-date is running ahead of 2019, it’s falling below 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015 through the same point. Most analysts project this year’s domestic box office will ultimately fall below last year, but the early trajectory is defying that prediction. Studios Sony is the highest grossing studio of the year, at $407.4M. Universal ranks second with $255.3M. Disney (including 20th Century Studios films) ranks third, at $232.3M. Disney and Universal swapped second and third place ranks this week. While it’s virtually certain that Disney will end the year as the top studio, they’re in third place right now.

Tuesday’s 4-Day Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, FEB. 14 – MON, FEB. 17

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Sonic The Hedgehog $70,002,074 4,167 $16,799 $70,002,074 1 Paramount
2 Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey $19,700,869 -40% 4,236 0 $4,651 $61,859,171 2 Warner Bros.
3 Fantasy Island $13,754,518 2,784 $4,941 $13,754,518 1 Sony Pictures
4 The Photograph $13,250,025 2,516 $5,266 $13,250,025 1 Universal Pictures
5 Bad Boys For Life $13,101,797 9% 3,185 -345 $4,114 $183,124,103 5 Sony / Columbia
6 1917 $9,435,385 2% 3,084 -464 $3,059 $145,760,369 8 Universal Pictures
7 Jumanji: The Next Level $6,801,688 22% 2,410 -319 $2,822 $306,817,974 10 Sony Pictures
8 Parasite $6,646,894 304% 2,001 941 $3,322 $44,334,442 19 NEON
9 Dolittle $6,125,095 -6% 2,869 -593 $2,135 $71,576,610 5 Universal
10 Downhill $5,104,881 2,301 $2,219 $5,104,881 1 Fox Searchlight
11 The Gentlemen $3,178,588 -25% 1,802 -755 $1,764 $31,702,651 4 STX Entertainment
12 Knives Out $2,466,257 7% 1,154 -289 $2,137 $162,177,274 12 Lionsgate
13 Little Women $1,955,236 -18% 1,035 -770 $1,889 $105,758,242 8 Sony Pictures
14 Gretel & Hansel $1,734,501 -52% 1,645 -1362 $1,054 $14,416,418 3 United Artists Releasing

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker $1,712,244 -26% 992 -754 $1,726 $513,198,607 9 Disney
2 Jojo Rabbit $1,175,760 -22% 484 -612 $2,429 $32,031,068 18 Fox Searchlight
3 Frozen II $1,157,565 -16% 716 -415 $1,617 $475,845,268 13 Disney
4 Just Mercy $919,925 -39% 846 -469 $1,087 $34,900,091 8 Warner Bros.
5 Spies in Disguise $698,531 -30% 519 -281 $1,346 $65,840,935 8 20th Century Fox
6 The Turning $607,595 -59% 610 -1238 $996 $15,134,160 4 Universal Pictures
7 Ford v. Ferrari $434,113 -33% 293 -450 $1,482 $117,067,631 14 20th Century Fox
8 2020 Oscar-Nominated Short Films $235,329 -73% 135 -400 $1,743 $3,188,078 3 Magnolia Pictures ShortsTV w/ Magnolia Pictures
9 Uncut Gems $204,688 -69% 218 -924 $939 $49,803,541 10 A24
10 Bombshell $153,953 -30% 128 -144 $1,203 $31,530,007 10 Lionsgate
11 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood $135,962 38% 141 -14 $964 $61,509,383 13 Sony Pictures
12 The Last Full Measure $101,275 -53% 121 -158 $837 $2,777,609 4 Roadside Attractions
13 Like a Boss $96,541 -53% 122 -173 $791 $22,149,683 6 Paramount Pictures
14 Joker $86,564 -29% 165 -336 $525 $335,338,337 20 Warner Bros.

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Portrait of a Lady on Fire $495,645 22 $22,529 $614,248 11 NEON
2 Mafia Inc. $284,929 85 $3,352 $284,929 1 Entertainment One
3 The Assistant $247,903 110% 82 57 $3,023 $520,109 3 Bleecker Street
4 The Lodge $153,353 101% 21 15 $7,303 $253,354 2 Neon
5 Weathering With You $86,049 -37% 32 -74 $2,689 $7,710,749 5 GKIDS
6 The Traitor $60,333 50% 29 12 $2,080 $154,528 3 Sony Pictures Classics
7 The Grudge $56,940 -27% 71 -56 $802 $21,189,255 7 Sony Pictures
8 First Lady $56,692 68 $834 $56,692 1 ArtAffects Entertainment
9 Underwater $52,809 -59% 77 -149 $686 $17,119,285 6 20th Century Fox
10 The Times of Bill Cunningham $46,412 2 $23,206 $46,412 1 Greenwich Entertainment
11 The Song Of Names $45,156 -20% 51 -27 $885 $1,003,477 8 Sony Pictures Classics
12 Once Upon a Time In Hollywood $40,655 -82% 53 -530 $767 $142,494,147 30 Sony Pictures
13 Judy $30,529 144% 43 -7 $710 $24,253,338 21 Roadside Attractions / LD Entertainment
14 The Rhythm Section $30,003 -97% 94 -2955 $319 $5,427,510 3 Paramount
15 Ordinary Love $26,128 3 $8,709 $26,128 1  
16 And Then We Danced $23,354 68% 7 5 $3,336 $42,988 2 Muisc Box Films
17 Incitement $23,136 -19% 21 12 $1,102 $88,870 3 Greenwich Entertainment
18 Pain and Glory $23,019 -60% 19 -99 $1,212 $4,551,623 20 Sony Pictures Classics
19 Enter the Fat Dragon $22,193 11 $2,018 $22,193 1 Well Go USA Entertainment
20 Beanpole $20,674 164% 7 5 $2,953 $70,977 3 Kino Lorber Films
21 Created Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Words $16,641 -69% 17 -23 $979 $201,238 3 Manifold Productions
22 Buffaloed $16,438 9 $1,826 $16,438 1 Magnolia Pictures
23 Honeyland $11,628 -19% 7 -9 $1,661 $808,519 30 Neon
24 Olympic Dreams $10,076 3 $3,359 $10,076 1 IFC Films
25 Clemency $9,761 -15% 18 -7 $542 $354,837 8 Neon
26 L’innocente $9,134 1 $9,134 $9,134 1 Film Movement
27 Citizen K $8,530 -47% 10 -5 $853 $112,521 13 Greenwich Entertainment
28 Cunningham $8,063 40% 12 8 $672 $241,609 10 Magnolia Pictures
29 I Was at Home, But… $6,115 1 $6,115 $6,115 1 Cinema Guild
30 You Go To My Head $5,864 1 $5,864 $5,864 1 First Run Features
31 Corpus Christi $5,136 1 $5,136 $20,210 1 Film Movement
32 The Doors: Break On Thru – A Celebration Of Ray Manzarek $4,312 15 $287 $185,357 1 Trafalgar Releasing
33 Ip Man 4: The Finale $3,976 -63% 4 -6 $994 $3,951,069 8 Well Go USA Entertainment
34 Pandora and the Flying Dutchman $3,280 -40% 1 0 $3,280 $13,328 2 Cohen Media Group
35 Kind Hearts and Coronets (2019 Re-Issue) $2,628 3 $876 $32,352 12 Rialto Pictures
36 Les Misérables (2020) $1,971 -91% 7 -31 $282 $328,626 6 Amazon Studios
37 Varda by Agnes $1,089 -17% 2 0 $545 $147,386 13 Janus Films
38 Zombi Child $858 11% 4 2 $215 $17,352 4 Film Movement
39 The Disappearance of My Mother $680 1 $680 $24,951 11 Kino Lorber
40 Synonyms $377 1 $377 $204,607 17 Kino Lorber
41 Advocate $299 390% 1 0 $299 $23,435 7 Film Movement
42 Mr. Klein $280 1 $280 $191,569 24 Rialto Pictures
43 Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice $253 -32% 1 0 $253 $4,252,657 24 Greenwich Entertainment