'Jumanji' Almost Catches 'The Last Jedi'
by EG
Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi is still the hottest movie in America, but it barely beat Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle in the box-office race over the New Year holiday weekend.
Disney and Lucasfilm's The Last Jedi has crossed the $1 billion mark at the global box office on its way to becoming the top-grossing release of 2017, besting Beauty and the Beast.
Overall, it's looking like a strong New Year's weekend in terms of moviegoing.
That's good news for the film business, which is hoping to close a troubling year-over-year gap as much as possible. If early estimates are correct, revenue in North America will come in at $11.12 billion, down 2.3 percent from last year's record $11.4 billion and down less than a percentage point behind 2015, according to comScore. Several weeks ago, the gap was more than 4 percent. It's only the third time that domestic revenue has crossed $11 billion. The bummer stat — attendance looks to hit a 22-year low.
The Last Jedi has stayed atop the box-office chart throughout the year-end holidays, grossing another $52.4 million from 4,232 theaters for the three-day weekend and a projected $65.6 million for the four-day holiday weekend, putting the film's North American total at roughly $530 million through Monday. Overseas, The Last Jedi served up another $68 million, for an international total of $523.3 million and global haul of $1.04 billion through Sunday (Beauty and the Beast grossed $1.26 billion).
So far, Last Jedi is pacing more than 25 percent behind the $742 million earned by Star Wars: The Force Awakens two years ago over the holidays. At the same time, The Last Jedi is about to pass up the entire lifetime gross of standalone film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($1.06 billion). Johnson's film has yet to open in China, where it lands Jan. 5.
Sony's holiday hit Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle isn't far behind The Last Jedi this weekend. The reboot grossed $50.6 million domestically from 3,765 locations for the three days, for a projected four-day haul of $67 million. Jumanji should finish the weekend with a domestic tally of $186.3 million or more.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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