Tuesday the nominations for the Academy Awards were announced. A few of the titles that were recognized managed to enjoy a bump in audience interest. Online ticket merchant Fandango reported the major awards announced for a few of the titles led to a doubling of tickets sold the next day for those films.
At the same time a few new titles came out to gain traction in a mixed marketplace. This is typical of a January weekend when Oscar hopefuls and holiday holdovers are greeted by also-ran features that studios struggle to figure out how to release. Let’s take a look at this mixed field of quality and see how things fared.
1. MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE – $23.5 Million
Third in the series of teen future dystopian action from Fox, this franchise has performed just okay in North America while being a hit overseas. The first two titles made $100 million and $80 million respectively, while additionally grossing over $200 million more in foreign markets. This opening is about 20% lower than the previous films, both of which debuted in September. This January opening means Fox is looking purely at the international money by now.
2. JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE – $16.4m
The strength of this family-pleasing action piece is impressive, as it takes a mere -16% drop here in week #6. It now has earned more for Sony than last summer’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, becoming the third-highest earning title for that studio.
3. HOSTILES – $10.2m
The Christian Bale western is regarded as a serious drama, but it is up against strong competition in that category with so many Oscar films jostling for the older audience. Things will remain tough for this one, as it sports a modest grade of “B” from audiences, and the Super Bowl (whoah, sorry – “The Big Game”) arrives next weekend.
4. THE GREATEST SHOWMAN – $9.5m
This one continues to be a marvel of long-term strength. Helped by an Oscar nod for Best Song it only took a dip of -11%, spending yet another week in the top-5. This is the fourth consecutive week it earned more than its first week in wide release.
5. THE POST – $8.85m
Enjoying some health as a result of the nomination for Best Picture, and Meryl Streep for Best Actress. What is surprising is the movie has not been getting the mass amount of love expected from the various awards. Once felt as being a lock for the Oscar that Best Picture category is a complete toss-up this year.
6. 12 STRONG – $8.63m
A very decent second-week hold of -45% in a tough field of serious films. This war drama has settled into the now regular beat of Hollywood releasing a pro-military film in this early calendar slot. Not melting down theaters but drawing a respectable return.
7. DEN OF THIEVES – $8.36m
Continuing to surprise as it was looked at initially with doom, this too saw a respectable-45% drop, while carrying a much stronger screen average than “12 Strong”. This can affect the reputation of Gerard Butler as a master of the cinematic disasters.
8. THE SHAPE OF WATER – $5.7m
This sci-fi love story became the front-runner in a muddled Oscar field as it drew 13 nominations on Tuesday morning. Adding 1,000 screens this is a true awards season play, as it is in its ninth week of release. Fandango reported that after the nominations it drew a 250% increase in ticket sales the following day.
9. PADDINGTON 2 – $5.57m
The highest rated film of all time (yes, that is a truism) after three weeks it has drawn a modest $32 million. However, on the global stage, it has earned over $150 million.
10. PADMAAVAT – $4.27m
Breaking the record for the largest opening ever for a Bollywood production in North America. The number was boosted by this being a primary IMAX release on near 300 screens, leading to it being the clear per-screen average winner.
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