Studio Weekend Estimates: Holdovers Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($33.7M), Jumanji: The Next Level ($26.5M) & Little Women ($13.5M) Hold Steady; Newcomer The Grudge Debuts w/ $11.3M

As per usual on the first weekend of a new year, the North American box office was light on newcomers—only Sony’s remake of The Grudge debuted wide—and dominated by holdovers, a list that this time included Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Jumanji: The Next Level and Little Women.

Not surprisingly, Rise of Skywalker was the winner for the third weekend in a row, bringing in an estimated $33.7 million and bringing the total for the final installment in the Skywalker Saga to $450.8 million so far. That reflects an okay 53% hold from last weekend and puts the film 15% behind the pace of 2017’s The Last Jedi, which had $517.2 million by the same point in its run. Despite boasting a favorable 86% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes—exactly double The Last Jedi’s 43%—the film continues to perform on the more conservative end of expectations and may well fall short of its predecessor by the end of its North American run. The film is nonetheless doing brisk business all things considered, having now become the eighth-fastest title to hit the $450 million mark domestically.

Holding steady in second place was Jumanji: The Next Level, which brought in an estimated $26.5 million in its fourth weekend of release. That’s a drop of just 25% from last weekend and the same gross as its sophomore frame. The Sony threequel now has $236.2 million in the bank, an impressive tally that still puts it significantly behind its even leggier predecessor Welcome to the Jungle, which had $284.2 million at the same point in its run.

Coming off a strong $16.7 million three-day start over the post-Christmas weekend, Little Women grossed an estimated $13.5 million in its sophomore frame, a drop of just 19%. The Sony film has been buoyed by overwhelming critical acclaim and positive word-of-mouth and should continue holding well as Oscar season moves into full swing. The total for the Greta Gerwig-directed adaptation now stands at $60 million.

Opening with $11.3 million from 2,642 locations in fourth place was Sony’s The Grudge, which has been alternately billed as a reboot of the horror franchise and a “sidequel” that runs parallel to the events of the original American remake from 2004. That’s a decent opening for the reported $10 million production, which boasts an ultra-rare “F” Cinemascore and abysmal critical and audience averages on Rotten Tomatoes (16% and 19%, respectively). Nonetheless, this weekend’s debut came in a tick higher than the studio’s own $9 million prediction. It bears noting that the Nicolas Pesce-directed title came with a harsher “R” rating than the PG-13 2004 film, which debuted with a powerful $39.1 million at the height of the short-lived “J-horror” boom.

Tying The Grudge in fifth place was Disney’s Frozen II, which fell 33% to an estimated $11.3 million in its seventh weekend of release. The blockbuster sequel now boasts $449.9 million domestically, making it the fourth highest-grossing animated title of all time in North America.

Fox’s Spies in Disguise came in sixth with an estimated $10.1 million in its second weekend of release, a drop of just 24% from its $13.3 million three-day opening. That brings the Disney-distributed animated comedy to $46.7 million to date.

Enjoying another excellent performance in seventh place was Lionsgate’s blockbuster mystery Knives Out, which—after rising an incredible 52% over the post-Christmas frame—added 120 locations and grossed an estimated $9 million in its sixth weekend of release, representing a dip of just 9%. The total for the star-studded title now stands at a spectacular $130.2 million.

In eighth place was A24’s Uncut Gems, which dipped just 18% to an estimated $7.8 million in its second weekend of wide release and fourth weekend overall. The critically-acclaimed Adam Sandler drama now stands at a solid $36.8 million to date and should benefit from continued buzz around Sandler’s widely-praised performance. It should be said that this weekend’s strong hold feels somewhat out of step with the film’s lukewarm C+ Cinemascore and 52% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, but then of course those metrics aren’t always a reliable indicator of a film’s box office performance.

Ninth place went to Lionsgate’s Bombshell, which dropped just 15% to an estimated $4 million in its third weekend of wide release and fourth overall. The star-studded title, which is based on the sexual harassment scandal that erupted at Fox News in 2016, has a tally of $24.5 million to date.

Finally in tenth, the critically-derided musical Cats brought in an estimated $2.6 million in its third weekend of release, bringing the total for the Universal title to just $24.6 million to date.

Limited Release:

Universal’s WWI drama 1917 continued performing strongly in its second weekend of limited play, bringing in an estimated $590K from 11 locations for a per-screen average of over $53K. The critically-acclaimed title goes wide next weekend.

Overseas Update:

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker brought in an estimated $50.5 million from 33 territories, bringing its international total to $468 million and its global cume to $918.8 million. It will soon become the seventh Disney release of 2019 to hit the $1 billion mark worldwide.

Jumanji: The Next Level took in an estimated $42.4 million from 64 overseas markets this weekend, bringing its international tally to $374 million and its global total to $610 million. Top-grossing markets to date include China ($41.2 million), the U.K. ($37.5 million), France ($22.7 million), Australia ($19.8 million) and Germany ($19.3 million).

With an estimated $42.4 million overseas this weekend and a global tally of $1.325 billion, Frozen II is officially the highest-grossing animated title of all time worldwide, having surpassed the first Frozen ($1.281 billion) and Incredibles 2 ($1.243 billion). It is also currently the third-highest global release of 2019, behind only Avengers: Endgame ($2.797 billion) and The Lion King ($1.656 billion).


Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, JAN. 3 – SUN, JAN. 5

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker $33,739,000 -53% 4,406 0 $7,658 $450,796,441 3 Disney
2 Jumanji: The Next Level $26,500,000 -25% 4,134 -93 $6,410 $236,206,405 4 Sony Pictures
3 Little Women $13,575,000 -19% 3,308 0 $4,104 $60,023,332 2 Sony Pictures
4 The Grudge $11,300,000 2,642 $4,277 $11,300,000 1 Sony Pictures
5 Frozen II $11,291,000 -33% 3,175 -90 $3,556 $449,876,364 7 Disney
6 Spies in Disguise $10,084,000 -24% 3,502 0 $2,879 $46,729,961 2 20th Century Fox
7 Knives Out $9,025,000 -9% 2,142 120 $4,213 $130,256,694 6 Lionsgate
8 Uncut Gems $7,826,928 -18% 2,686 338 $2,914 $36,813,107 4 A24
9 Bombshell $4,075,000 -15% 1,721 241 $2,368 $24,569,144 4 Lionsgate
10 Cats $2,600,000 -46% 2,902 -478 $896 $24,690,935 3 Universal Pictures
11 Richard Jewell $1,700,000 -45% 1,870 -632 $909 $21,204,000 4 Warner Bros.

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Ford v. Ferrari $1,680,000 -7% 730 -63 $2,301 $109,949,840 8 20th Century Fox
2 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood $1,225,000 -15% 856 -158 $1,431 $58,803,665 7 Sony Pictures
3 Queen & Slim $1,210,000 -29% 625 -74 $1,936 $42,704,770 6 Universal Pictures
4 Parasite $888,122 56% 222 52 $4,001 $23,900,739 13 NEON
5 21 Bridges $390,000 56% 476 247 $819 $28,260,000 7 STX Entertainment
6 Jojo Rabbit $358,000 42% 209 1 $1,713 $21,592,814 12 Fox Searchlight
7 A Hidden Life $264,000 22% 149 31 $1,772 $1,276,829 4 Fox Searchlight
8 Black Christmas $203,000 -76% 440 -1074 $461 $10,384,415 4 Universal Pictures
9 Dark Waters $193,000 8% 133 -7 $1,451 $10,934,634 7 Focus Features
10 Midway $175,000 28% 197 55 $888 $56,544,920 9 Lionsgate
11 Playing with Fire $150,000 -10% 156 -32 $962 $44,405,231 9 Paramount Pictures
12 Maleficent: Mistress of Evil $146,000 -16% 148 -7 $986 $113,538,166 12 Disney
13 Harriet $141,000 7% 124 12 $1,137 $42,763,890 10 Focus Features

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 1917 $590,000 2% 11 0 $53,636 $2,279,867 2 Universal Pictures
2 Just Mercy $75,000 -31% 4 0 $18,750 $399,000 2 Warner Bros.
3 The Song Of Names $68,618 74% 17 7 $4,036 $186,005 2 Sony Pictures Classics
4 Pain and Glory $67,436 49% 83 42 $812 $3,967,719 14 Sony Pictures Classics
5 63 Up $34,260 1% 19 2 $1,803 $299,744 6 BritBox
6 Ashfall $32,395 -20% 2 0 $16,198 $32,395 3 CJ Entertainment
7 Clemency $32,011 -9% 9 7 $3,557 $78,551 2 Neon
8 Invisible life $25,461 278% 13 11 $1,959 $53,199 3 Amazon Studios