Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle Continues To Top The Weekend Box Office
Moviegoers wanted to go to someplace warm during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, and they chose to travel the jungle.
Jumanji's Jungle Jive
For the second week in a row, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle topped the box office. The combined star power of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, and Nick Jonas has earned $27 million this holiday weekend. The film also featured a homage to the late Robin Williams, who starred in the 1995 fan-favorite family silver screen adventure.
Since the long-awaited sequel dropped into theatres on Dec. 20, 2017, it has made over $283.2 million. All in all, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has made a massive total of $666.2 million in the global box office.
A Bear, An Assassin, And Liam Neeson
Meanwhile, three films made their silver screen debuts this past weekend. Action superstar Liam Neeson debuted his latest thriller The Commuter, which made over $13.5 million and placed in this week's number 3.
Children's literary icon Paddington Bear returned to the silver screen four years after making his debut. Paddington 2, which was nominated for three British Academy Film Awards, earned $10.6 million in ticket sales and placed seventh in this past weekend's box office race.
Two years after bringing NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson's story to life in Hidden Figures, Taraji P. Henson returned to the cinema as assassin Mary Goodwin in Proud Mary. Despite the mixed reviews, the movie earned $10 million.
Franchise Film Update
There were several prominent film franchises made some significant gains in the box office race. Horror film Insidious: The Last Key made over $12.1 million in ticket sales and placed number four in the box office race.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which featured the final performance of Carrie Fisher's Leia Organa and a potential farewell to Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, earned $11.3 million this past weekend. While it placed at number 6 in the box office race, the film continues to be a worldwide phenomenon.
Pitch Perfect 3 came in at number 9 on the list. Fans of the A cappella musical franchise rushed to watch the final appearance of the Barden Bellas, which made over $5.7 million this weekend.
Award Season Nominations
Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep's The Post was named one of the American Film Institute's best films in 2017 and received several Golden Globe nominations. However, the Steven Spielberg-directed film was locked out of any potential wins. The film grossed over $13.5 million in the weekend and came in second place.
Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, and Zendaya's The Greatest Showman continued to inspire audiences. The musical biopic that featured beautifully crafted songs from the Golden Globe-winning hitmaking team Pasek and Paul earned $11.8 million this weekend and placed fifth on this list.
Rounding out the Jan. 12-14 weekend was Darkest Hour. Actor Gary Oldman's once in a lifetime performance of United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill has earned the actor both Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Awards. The film made $4.5 million in ticket sales.
