'Jumanji' Looking for a Strong Christmas Opening
by EG
Jumanji, the fantasy adventure comedy starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, is looking like a Christmas hit, with forecasts putting its opening-weekend take at around $60 million. That will be an impressive feat, if it happens, considering that the movie is going to have to contend with a little movie called Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, which opens a week earlier on Dec. 15.
Christmas looks to be very merry for Sony's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, which is is tracking for a six-day debut of $60 million, according to early prerelease surveys.
That's an especially strong number considering the broad all-audience tentpole — starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan — will have to compete with Disney and Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The latest Star Wars film opens Dec. 15. Sony insiders are being more cautious and suggesting $45 million, which would still be a strong start.
Jumanji, launching on Wednesday Dec. 20, is among a flurry of year-end holiday titles that came on tracking Thursday morning. (Amazon Prime members will have a chance to see the movie early in 1,000 theaters across the country on Dec. 8 in a first-ever promotion.)
Universal's female-skewing comedy Pitch Perfect 3 likewise looks like a Christmas winner. The threequel, opening on Dec. 22, is projected to post a four-day debut in the $30 million range, according to one major tracking service.
Fox's The Greatest Showman, a biopic of circus maestro P.T. Barnum starring Hugh Jackman, is tracking to post a six-day debut of roughly $21 million, a solid start. Greatest Showman launches in theaters on Dec. 20.
Generally speaking, movies don't necessarily post huge openings over Christmas weekend but can amass substantial grosses by the time New Year's weekend wraps.
If tracking is correct, one movie that could find coal in its stocking is Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World, which no longer stars disgraced actor Kevin Spacey. One service shows the Sony/TriStar film taking in $6 million for the four days (it unfurls on Dec. 22). At the same time, Sony has three weeks left to promote All the Money in the World, so the forecast could change.
Get the rest of th story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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