Coco Gives Encore Performance at Top

Last weekend (Dec. 1-3) was a quiet one at the box office with no new movies and no change in the Top 6 movies. Walt Disney Studios-Pixar’s animated Coco gave an encore performance, finishing on top for a second consecutive weekend with $27.53 million.

Disney-Pixar’s Coco finishend in first for teh second weekend with $27.53 million. (Photo: Disney-Pixar)

Coco fell 45.8 percent from the previous weekend and gives the film $110.11 million in its first 10 days, slightly behind Moana‘s $119.7 million over the same period last year and far ahead of 2015’s The Good Dinosaur, which grossed just $75.5 million by the end of its second weekend.

Warner Bros. Pictures’ Justice League again finished in second with $16.65 million, bringing the superhero extravaganza to $197.41 million in 15 days. Though it is poised to cross the $200 million threshold this week, the latest DC Extended Universe entry is a box office disappointment by lofty superhero-movie standards, particularly given that it brought a number of A-list characters together in the same film.

Repeating in third place, Lionsgate’s Wonder enjoyed another great weekend with $12.15 million, bringing its total gross thus far to $87.68 million in just 15 days. The Julia Roberts-Owen Wilson weeper has been a big hit with audiences looking for inspirational fare during the holiday season and will easily top $100 million by this coming weekend.

In fourth place, Disney-Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok added another $9.89 million to its already-gargantuan total, giving the superhero epic $291.63 million in five weeks. Look for it to cross $300 million by this coming weekend, by far the highest gross of any standalone Thor film. The next-highest is Thor: The Dark World, which finished its domestic run with $206 million.

Daddy’s Home 2 finished in fifth with $7.57 million, bringing its total to $82.89 million in four weeks. That is considerably behind the first film’s $129.5 million over the same period. Sixth place, meanwhile, went to 20th Century Fox’s hit adult-oriented thriller Murder on the Orient Express, which brought in $6.77 million, bringing its total to $84.87 million so far. The $100 million benchmark isn’t far off for the star-studded adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famed mystery novel.

In seventh place, Fox Searchlight’s profane dramedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which enjoyed a healthy wide expansion, grossing $4.40 million on 1,430 screens. The critically-acclaimed release starring Frances McDormand has now earned $13.54 million in four weeks.

Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird also did well in its first weekend in wide release, earning $4.29 million on 1,194 screens. That gives the Oscar-buzzed A24 release $16.84 million so far.

Ninth place went to Sony Pictures’ faith-based animated comedy The Star, which brought in $4.08 million, for a $27.36 million total after three weeks. Though it is miles off from Coco, the Walden Media co-financed film came with a much-cheaper $20 million price tag.

Rounding out the Top 10 was A Bad Moms Christmas, which took in $3.39 million in its fifth weekend. That gives the STX sequel’s total to $64.74 million, a significant drop from the first film’s $95.2 million by the same point last year. but still a reasonably good total considering the film’s reported $28 million budget
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Falling outside the Top 10 was the Denzel Washington legal drama Roman J. Israel, Esq., which faltered in its second week of wide release with just $1.96 million on 1,669 screens. The Sony Pictures release likely suffered from its mixed-to-poor reviews, as critical notices are especially important in a time of year chock-full of Oscar hopefuls vying for the dollars of discerning moviegoers.

The top 10 films earned $96.72 million last weekend, 45.8 percent below the previous weekend’s $178.48 million. However, it was 15.5 percent ahead of the same weekend last year, when Moana lead for the second weekend with $28.27 million. Year-to-date, the box office is down 4.1 percent from last year.

Mark Heckathorn

Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.