Awards Box Office: ‘The Post’ Continues to Shine in Final Weekend of 2017
While “Star Wars” and “Jumanji” carried the weight for a very strong New Year’s weekend, several awards contenders helped push totals for the last three weekends of the year over $1 billion. Among them is Fox’s “The Post,” which continues to do well in its nine-screen release with an estimated four-day total of $765,000, keeping its stellar per screen average at $85,000. It is expected to finish New Year’s Day with just under $2 million total.
Meanwhile, three Christmas Day releases are showing differing results. Focus Features’ “Phantom Thread,” which is screening in 70mm in four locations, is making an estimated $305,000 over the four day weekend for a $55,000 PSA and a total of $616,000. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film stars Daniel Day Lewis in what he says will be his final role as Reynolds Woodcock, a talented but controlling dressmaker whose carefully controlled life is disrupted when he falls in love with a model and waitress named Alma (Vicky Krieps). Also starring Lesley Manville, the film has a 90 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating.
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Meanwhile, STX’s “Molly’s Game,” which was released on 273 screens, has a four-day estimate of $3.1 million to bring its total to $6 million after a week in theaters. Written by Aaron Sorkin in his directorial debut, the film stars Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom, a woman who hosted the most exclusive high-stakes poker games in Los Angeles and New York until she was arrested by the FBI, leading her to seek the help of an elite defense lawyer (Idris Elba), to get her name cleared. Kevin Costner and Michael Cera also star, and the film has an 80 percent RT rating.
Performing weaker this weekend is Sony’s “All the Money in the World,” which made headlines when director Ridley Scott reshot the film with Christopher Plummer as billionaire J. Paul Getty after the role’s original holder, Kevin Spacey, was hit with sexual harassment claims after the film was completed. The film has received three Golden Globes nominations, including Best Director for Scott, but it is expected to only make $7.2 million from its wide release of 2,074 screens, giving it just a $14.4 million eight-day total against a $50 million reported budget. The film has a 76 percent RT score.
Among other awards contenders, Focus’ “Darkest Hour” expanded to 943 screens for an estimated $7.1 million and a $19.8 million total after six weeks in theaters. Fox Searchlight’s “The Shape of Water” expanded to 756 screens and took in $4.8 million to bring its total to $17 million, while fellow Searchlight release “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” nears the $25 million mark after making $665,000 from 229 screens in its eighth weekend. Finally, “Lady Bird” crossed the $30 million mark after making $1.4 million in its ninth weekend to bring its total to $31.3, while fellow A24 release “The Disaster Artist” brought its total to $17.8 million in its fifth weekend.
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Disney's 'Star Wars' Movies Have Already Earned Back $4 Billion Lucasfilm Investment at Box Office
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