Weekend Forecast: Star Wars, Jumanji Sequels and Little Women to Ring In 2020 Atop the Box Office

As 2019 comes to a close this week and our attention turns toward the start of a new decade, this forecast will be relatively brief due to the fact studios are sitting out the weekend in terms of new releases. Instead, holiday holdovers will remain the focus as the industry ushers in a new year. To little surprise, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be targeting its third weekend in first place. Although the sequel trilogy finale hasn’t quite lived up to optimistic expectations, its solid run overall still provides enough momentum to help kick off the new year. Jumanji: The Next Level will likely continue to display its strong holding power, while Little Women is showing early signs of a leggy run that should carry through January. Top 10 vs. Last Year Boxoffice projects this weekend’s top ten films will decline approximately 1 to 6 percent from the same weekend one...

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And Justice For All: A Real-Life Civil Rights Drama Unfolds in Just Mercy

Out in limited release on Christmas Day before nationwide expansion on January 10, Warner Bros.’ Just Mercy tells the timely tale of criminal justice gone awry. Specifically, the film follows civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson—who wrote the memoir on which Just Mercy is based—as he travels from Harvard to the Deep South to defend the wrongly imprisoned. There he meets Walter McMillian, on death row for years following a conviction for murdering a young woman. McMillian has an airtight alibi, and the prosecutor’s main witness isn’t exactly trustworthy. But McMillian is black, the murdered girl was white, and the cops just wanted to...

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Studio Weekend Estimates: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Fires Up $72M 2nd Weekend; Little Women ($16.5M) and Uncut Gems ($9.5M) Counterprogram Effectively

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker predictably continued its run as top dog at the box office in the final weekend of 2019, bringing in an estimated $72 million in its sophomore frame. Nonetheless, audiences enjoying their winter break spread the love among both holdovers and a trio of newcomers including Little Women, Spies in Disguise and Uncut Gems. After enjoying the second-largest Christmas Day haul in box office history with $32.1 million—behind only franchise stablemate The Force Awakens’ $49.3 million)—The Rise of Skywalker fell 59% in its second weekend, improving on the sophomore performance of 2017’s The Last Jedi, which fell more than 67% due to controversy among the series’ core fanbase. Skywalker’s better hold and strong midweek business allowed it to catch up with The Last Jedi, bringing its North American total to $361.8 million versus The Last Jedi’s $368.1...

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3-Day Weekend Estimates: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Aiming for $75M+ Second Frame; Jumanji: The Next Level Adding $33M+; Little Women Eyes $16M+

Saturday Update: Disney reports this morning that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker posted another $26.234 million on Friday, bringing its eight-day domestic haul to $316 million. That moves the trilogy-capper within 2 percent of the eight-day tally of The Last Jedi two years ago and sets Rise on course for a three-day sophomore weekend in the range of $70 – 80 million, pending those pesky holiday multipliers. If the film lands on the higher end of that range, it would surpass the 10-day tally of Last Jedi ($368.2 million) by Sunday’s end. In second place yesterday, Jumanji: The Next Level continued to roll with another $11.7 million, giving it a 15-day tally of $151.9 million. We’re projecting a third weekend north of $33 million. Frozen II claimed the number three position with $6 million yesterday, giving it $410.8 million to-date domestically. We expect around $16.9...

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Long Range Tracking: Brahms: The Boy 2 and Call of the Wild

This week’s report takes a look at two late February releases currently on the slate for post-Presidents Day weekend debuts on Friday the 21st. Brahms: The Boy 2 Opening Weekend Range: $7 – 12 million PROS: The first film was a sleeper success on a low budget, earning $35.8 million domestically. Katie Holmes steps in as the star here, which could elevate the sequel’s profile a bit. CONS: Opening in the midst of numerous horror/thrillers early in the year could limit potential, especially since it’s been four years since the original’s solid run. Some momentum may have been lost. Call of the Wild Opening Weekend Range: $15 – 20 million PROS: Harrison Ford’s presence could elevate appeal among adult audiences and parents for this family-friendly adaptation. Initial metrics from the recent trailer indicate strong sentiment and the possibility of a leggy run. CONS: Sonic...

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CJ 4DPLEX and Flexound Open CGV’s Second Flexound Augmented Audio Theater in Korea

PRESS RELEASE CGV Songpa SphereX has become the second CGV screen with Flexound Augmented Audio™ in every seat. Based on audience feedback from CGV’s first Flexound cinema, located in CGV Gold Class Wangsimni, CJ CGV and CJ 4DPLEX decided to continue their relationship with immersive seating company Flexound. This new SphereX Songpa cinema, which has 73 Flexound-equipped seats, opened on Christmas Eve with Cats. CJ 4DPLEX and Flexound are in talks to expand the collaboration further in more CGV theatres, as well as incorporating Flexound Augmented Audio™ with 4DX and ScreenX. Flexound Augmented Audio™ is a Finnish audio innovation that is gaining recognition in different industries globally. “The original idea about multisensory listening started from...

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Weekend Forecast: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Chases $85-100M+ Second Frame, May Overtake Pace of Last Jedi; Can Little Women Break Out?

Fresh off the third highest debut in December history, and the third best weekend of 2019, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker now sets its sights on the lucrative holiday corridor in front of its feet over the next two weeks. Disney reported on Tuesday morning that the blockbuster trilogy-capper added $29.2 million domestically on Monday, lifting its four-day total to $206.6 million. Yesterday’s earnings represented an encouraging 27 percent drop from Sunday and gave the film the sixth best Monday gross in history. Christmas Eve will naturally see a sharp decline for Star Wars and all other films in release before significant boosts return on Christmas Day Wednesday and beyond. In fact, Rise of Skywalker is currently on pace to soar past The Last Jedi‘s $27.5 million Christmas Day gross for the second best of all-time on the holiday — behind only The Force Awakens‘ $49.3...

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The Grand Rex: The Mythical Parisian Movie Palace Goes Beyond Cinema

Originally Published in Boxoffice Pro France. Translated by Vassiliki Malouchou. The Grand Rex was born with Jacques Haïk, a pioneer of French cinema and one of its most important producers and distributors of the era. After 20 months of construction, on December 8th 1932, the Grand Rex was inaugurated in the second arrondissement of Paris. Inspired by New York’s Radio City Music Hall and the American concept of atmospheric theaters, the Grand Rex’s auditorium makes its patrons feel like they’re in a Mediterranean courtyard contemplating a starry sky overhead.  The Grand Rex is Europe’s largest cinema, spanning more than 21,527 square feet...

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Weekend Box Office Key Insights: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Earns $177.3M, Down -19% from The Last Jedi

A Great Result For Any Other Film When your movie opens to $177.3M, it’s usually hard to call that a disappointment. But Disney’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker came in at the absolute bottom range of pre-release projections, noticeably below its Saturday weekend estimate, and well below its predecessors’ openings. Rise opened -28.4% behind the trilogy’s original installment The Force Awakens and -19.3% behind predecessor The Last Jedi. Unadjusted for inflation, Rise is the 12th-biggest opening weekend ever, down from third- and fourth-biggest for Force and Last. Rise also started near the bottom range of pre-release projections, most of which were around $190M. (On one popular box office prediction website, the lowest that any user predicted was $175M, only slightly below the actual result.) Lastly, it debuted below the $185M to $195M range suggested...

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Cohen Media Group Acquires U.K.’s Curzon Cinemas

Cohen Media Group has acquired the venerable U.K. art house theater chain Curzon Cinemas, in the first overseas exhibition venture for U.S. real estate billionaire Charles S. Cohen. The deal, announced today by Cohan and Curzon CEO Philip Knatchbull, encompasses Curzon’s 13 locations in the U.K. and its Curzon Artificial Eye distribution division and Curzon Home Cinema streaming business. Financial details were not disclosed.  “Among exhibitors and distributors of great films, there are few names in the international marketplace as important as Curzon and Curzon’s Artificial Eye,” said Cohen, whose company last year acquired Landmark Theatres and also produces and distributes specialty films. “We are thrilled to unite with this honored brand and I look forward to working with Philip and Curzon’s highly experienced senior management team. Together, we will carry forward...

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Top Women in Global Exhibition 2019: Jannicke Haugen, Nordisk Film

Earlier this year, Boxoffice Pro partnered with Celluloid Junkie to present the fourth-annual list of Top Women in Global Exhibition, published in our CinemaCon issue. Throughout 2019 and early 2020, Boxoffice Pro will continue to honor the women who have an immeasurable impact on the exhibition industry with a series of in-depth profiles. Headed by CEO Jannicke Haugen, Scandinavia’s Nordisk Film has made strides into the future with their installation of a 4DX screen in Oslo’s Ringen Cinema. The success of that theater led to the planned installation of an additional nine 4DX screens by the end of 2021. The chain was also an early adopter in the growing world of esports; on November 10, they invited guests to watch the League of Legends world championship through their EsportBio concept. Nordisk Film currently has 22 theaters across Denmark,...

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