'Jumanji' Tops the Weekend and $500M Worldwide as 'Insidious 4' Scares Up Strong Debut
Heading into the weekend Sony's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ranked #7 on the list of movies that had never reached #1 at the weekend box office. After Friday's estimates the film ranked fourth on the list, but as of today it no longer occupies a position after a stellar third weekend saw the action comedy lead the way at the weekend box office while topping $500 million globally. Additionally, Universal's release of Blumhouse's Insidious: The Last Key finished with a strong second place debut and even outperformed the franchise's third installment as 2018 is officially underway and off to a solid start.

With an estimated $36 million, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle finished #1 at the weekend box office for the first time since releasing on December 20. With a domestic cume that now stands at $244.3 million, the film serves as the highest grossing live action release of all-time for star Kevin Hart and is the second largest live action release for Dwayne Johnson behind only Furious 7's massive $353 million domestic haul and it's showing little sign of slowing down after dropping just 28% this weekend.

Internationally, Jumanji brought in an estimated $70 million, pushing its international cume to $275 million for a global tally reaching $514 million. The film now places within the top 20 among films released in 2017 with a release in China set for next weekend followed by an early April release in Japan.

In second place with an impressive $29.26 million, Insidious: The Last Key delivered the second largest debut of the franchise, topping the third chapter by over $7 million. It's also the ninth largest opening for a Blumhouse Production, just topping the $29 million opening for Paranormal Activity 4. The franchise has now grossed over $400 million worldwide.

Looking ahead, a domestic run around $55-67 million seems likely when looking at the multipliers for previous Insidious and Paranormal Activity sequels. The Last Key received a "B-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences, the lowest audience score of the franchise, and opening weekend exit polls show the film playing to an audience that was 51% female vs. 49% male, of which 41% of the audience was over the age of 25. This is similar to Chapter 3, which was 54% female and 40% were over the age of 25.

Internationally, Insidious: The Last Key brought in an estimated $20.1 million, which is the highest opening take for any of the four films for the same group of 33 markets. Leading the charge was a $4.1 million opening in Mexico followed by France ($2.2m), Germany ($2m), Malaysia ($1.6m), India ($1.3m) and Spain ($1.2m). The film opens in the UK next weekend followed by releases in Russia, Brazil and Italy on January 18, South Korea at the end of the month and Australia in early February.

Finishing third, Disney and Lucasfilm's Star Wars: The Last Jedi delivered an estimated $23.5 million, pushing the film's domestic cume to $572.5 million. It remains the sixth largest domestic release of all-time and won't challenge for a spot in the top five until it can top The Avengers' $623 million performance from 2012. Internationally, the film added another $64.7 million for an international gross totaling $632.7 million and a worldwide gross over $1.2 billion. The film now ranks as the 13th largest worldwide release of all-time, passing Captain America: Civil War ($1.153 billion) and Minions ($1.159 billion) this weekend.

Notable this weekend was The Last Jedi's debut in China, which is estimated at $28.7 million. This ranks behind the $30 million opening weekend for Rogue One, which finished with $69.4 million in China, and well behind the $52.3 million debut for Force Awakens, which grossed nearly $125 million in China.

Fox's The Greatest Showman continues to hold strong, dropping just 11% this weekend for a third place finish with an estimated $13.8 million for a $75.9 million domestic total thus far. The film is now looking at a $100+ million domestic performance. Internationally, the film added another $24 million this weekend from 74 markets bringing its international cume just shy of $75 million for a global tally topping $150 million.

Universal's Pitch Perfect 3 rounds out the top five with an estimated $10.2 million for a domestic cume that now totals $85.9 million. Internationally the film brought in another $18.1 million this weekend for an international total reaching $55 million and a $141 million global tally.

Outside the top five, STX delivered Molly's Game nationwide this weekend, expanding into 1,608 locations (+1,337) where it brought in an estimated $7 million, which is right on expectation. The film has benefit from strong critical reviews and just this week received PGA, WGA and ACE nominations and will be among the nominees at tonight's Golden Globe Awards with two nominations. Molly's Game's domestic total currently stands at $14.2 million after 14 days in release.

Right behind Molly's Game is Focus' Darkest Hour with an estimated $6.35 million as it continued to expand this weekend, playing in 1,733 theaters (+790). The film's domestic cume currently stands at $28.3 million and is also looking to benefit from awards season as star Gary Oldman is expected to take home a Golden Globe tonight, not to mention is a strong favorite to win his first Oscar this year. The film also added six new international markets this weekend where it brought in an estimated $1.8 million bringing its worldwide cume to $35.8 million.

Outside the top ten, Neon's I, Tonya brought in an estimated $2.4 million after expanding into 242 theaters (+193). The film's next expansion will see it reach ~500 locations starting January 12.

Additionally, Steven Spielberg's much-talked about film The Post brought in an estimated $1.7 million from just 36 locations for a chart-topping $47,222 per theater average. The film will expand nationwide next weekend into ~2,800 locations. Tracking as of a few days ago anticipated a $18-24 million expansion next weekend, but given the film's strong performance this weekend we could see those numbers increase over the coming days.

The second best per theater average for the weekend belongs to Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread, which brought in an estimated $245,000 from six locations for a $40,833 average. Next week, the film is looking to expand into approximately 50 theaters.

One final international note finds Kingsman: The Golden Circle making its debut in Japan with an estimated $4.3 million, which pushes the film's international cume over $300 million for a global cume over $400 million, nearly on par with the first film's $414.3 million worldwide tally.

Looking at the weekend overall it's a tough apples-to-apples comparison based on when New Year's day falls. That said, looking at direct comparisons in 2007 and 2001, both saw the top twelve deliver a combined $104.4 million compared to this weekend's $148.5 million. Of course, the conversation right now is looking closely at estimated tickets sold after 2017 finished with just 1.239 billion estimated tickets sold, placing a disappointing 26th all-time. That said, using average ticket sales, the ~16.6 million tickets for the top twelve this weekend does beat the ~15.18 million sold in 2007, but falls short of the ~18.45 million sold in 2001. Whether this is a fair assessment of the weekend overall is up for debate given the multimedia marketplace, but this weekend's estimated 16.6 million tickets sold is the best since 2009 if you don't include 2016 or 2010, both of which included New Year's day.

Next weekend Liam Neeson stars in The Commuter, opening in ~2,800 locations; WB releases Paddington 2, which previously resided at The Weinstein Co.; Universal releases Proud Mary starring Taraji P. Henson; Fox goes nationwide with The Post and Lionsgate will release Condorito into ~150 locations.

You can check out all of this weekend's estimated results right here and we'll be updating our charts with weekend actuals on Monday afternoon.

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