Surprising literally no one, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was once again the top grossing film in North America this weekend. The sci-fi epic took in $72,000,000 over the last three days, dropping 59% in its second weekend. That’s a pretty substantial drop (though smaller than The Last Jedi’s 67% just a few years ago) but the movie is still making lots and lots of money and Disney is quite happy with their growing pocket book. While critics didn’t enjoy Skywalker like previous Star Wars films, audiences seem to still be enjoying it. And yet it seems highly unlikely that the movie will reach the heights of its predecessors. That’s certainly a bit of a black mark on Skywalker’s record but the success of the film is undeniable. Did Disney hope for more, including better critical acclaim? Of course, but they’re definitely not crying. The force is strong with The Rise of Skywalker, just not as strong as expected.
The biggest story of the weekend is the debut of Greta Gerwig’s Little Women which came in at number three with $16,525,000. Since Christmas Day, the movie has made $29,000,000 which is much better than Sony expected. People seem to be flocking to the well-reviewed adaptation and audiences love what they see, giving the movie an A- CinemaScore. That promises that Little Women may do big business and could have some serious legs in the weeks ahead. Sony is happy with these results. Greta Gerwig is too. Hell, everyone is happy with Little Women’s success and they should be!
The other new feature, Spies in Disguise, also did pretty dang well this week, bringing in $13,200,000 over the weekend and $22,087,000 since its Christmas Day launch. These are pretty good numbers for an animated film that’s not Pixar and not Disney. Look at the chart and you’ll see that there isn’t a ton of family fare available, save Frozen 2 which every family has already seen. However, kids are on break from school and parents are sick of their little darlings driving them mad at home so Spies in Disguise provided a great bit of counter-programming that is cleaning up nicely. And with no other major kids movies on the horizon, it’s possible that Spies in Disguise could continue to do well in the weeks ahead. Another success story! It’s a Christmas miracle!
Uncut Gems did some business now that it’s in wide release. The Adam Sandler film has now made an even $20,000,000 and is still garnering buzz and great reviews. The reviews aren’t as great with audiences, however. When the film was in limited release, its CinemaScore was A-. Now that it’s in wide release? C+. So it seems that mainstream audiences aren’t digging the film as much which is definitely a bit concerning for its future. That being said, Uncut Gems has already done some terrific business and will likely continue to bring in some strong numbers despite a lukewarm response from Joe and Jane Moviegoer.
Sam Mendes’s war epic 1917 debuted in 11 locations this weekend and brought in an impressive $1 million and A ratings on CinemaScore. Prepare to hear much, much more about this movie in the weeks ahead as it expands because I have a feeling it’s going to be a hit. Critics already adore the film and audiences are liking it too. Something tells me that 1917 could be this year’s Gravity, an intense one-take thrill ride that audiences can’t get enough of. We will know soon enough as the film goes wide on January 10th.
And then there is Cats, Poor, poor Cats. Just a week after its debut, the movie sits at number 8 and has only made $17,800,000 which means the movie will create a loss of about $80 million for Universal. To make matters even worse, the studio has decided to pull all awards-season marketing for the movie, meaning they are trying to forget the whole thing even happened. Cats is quickly becoming the stuff of legend. Years from now we will talk about the bomb that was Tom Hooper’s Cats and just how bad it look and how poorly it performed. Our children and grandchildren will ask about it, wondering what it was like to see such a disaster occur.
Next weekend, the first week of 2020, will see only one wide release: The Grudge. Will audiences seek out the scary remake? Possibly. After several weeks with holiday shoppers and family, a horror film might be happy escapism for some.
