Maze Runner dashes to the top!
Post-apocalyptic thrills were the main attraction this weekend, putting MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE in first place at the box office with an estimated opening of $23.5 million!
The final chapter of the young-adult trilogy had the lowest opening of the series, behind the $32.5 million start of the first MAZE RUNNER in 2014 and the $30.3 million opening of sequel THE SCORCH TRIALS.
The end of the sci-fi franchise cost a reported $62 million, and has rounded up $82 million from international audiences (it opened a week ago in some areas) for a worldwide total of $105.5 million.
Critics didn't find the climax to be considerably epic, giving the new PG-13 sequel an avearge of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can check out the JoBlo review HERE.
After ruling the chart for three weekends, action-comedy JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE slipped to second place with a still-strong $16.4 million.
The durable adventure sequel has now amassed $338 million domestic, passing the $327 million total of IT and the $334 million finish of SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING to make it the fifth highest-grossing release of 2017.
The crowd-pleaser with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan and Jack Black also has a whopping $822 million worldwide total (on a $90 million reported cost).
In third place was the R-rated Western HOSTILES with $10.2 million as it expanded into wide release.
Christian Bale's reunion with OUT OF THE FURNACE director Scott Cooper (along with his 3:10 TO YUMA co-star Ben Foster and THE NEW WORLD's Q'orianka Kilcher) has a domestic total of $12 million after riding in limited release for several weeks.
Most critics were ready to get in the saddle for the harsh period tale (which cost a reported $50 million), giving it an average of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes. The JoBlo review is HERE.
The Hugh Jackman musical THE GREATEST SHOWMAN has demonstrated surprising resilience, moving up a spot to fourth with $9.5 million for a domestic total of $126.4 million on its sixth weekend in theaters. The $84 million circus story now has a worldwide total of nearly $260 million.
In fifth place was Steven Spielberg's journalist drama THE POST with $8.8 million, bringing it to a domestic total of $58.5 million over its third wide release weekend. The Tom Hanks/Meryl Streep thriller has a worldwide total of $83 million (on a reported cost of $50 million).
The Chris Hemsworth R-rated war drama 12 STRONG was in sixth place with $8.6 million, slowing by 45% from last weekend's opening for a ten-day domestic total of $29.7 million (close to its $30 million reported cost).
The heist thriller DEN OF THIEVES was close behind in seventh with $8.3 million, also losing 45% from its opening last week. The R-rated Gerard Butler crime-thriller has a ten-day domestic total of $28.5 million (on a reported $30 million cost).
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro's awards darling THE SHAPE OF WATER splashed back into the Top 10 with $5.7 million for eighth place as it added an extra 1000 locations. The R-rated creature-romance has a domestic total of $37.6 million and $51 million worldwide on a reported cost of $19 million.
Bear sequel PADDINGTON 2 was in ninth place with $5.5 million. The PG-rated family feature (which retains its perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score) has a domestic total of $32 million and $185.5 million worldwide.
Closing out the list in tenth place was the new Bollywood period epic PADMAAVAT with $4.2 million in just 324 theaters (for a per-screen average more than double that of this week's #1 release).
Outside the chart, STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI finally drifted into the cosmos (with a domestic total of $610 million and $1.31 billion worldwide). Also making their exit were teen drama FOREVER MY GIRL, Liam Neeson's THE COMMUTER and horror spinoff INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY. Meanwhile, PHANTOM THREAD, LADY BIRD, I, TONYA and THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI took advantage of their Oscar nominations by adding hundreds of screens for decent box office attention.
Next weekend offers the new Helen Mirren horror movie WINCHESTER.
Which February release are you most interested in seeing? VOTE HERE!
| # | MOVIE TITLE | WKND $ | TOTAL $ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maze Runner: The Death Cure | $23.5 M | NEW |
| 2 | Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle | $16.4 M | $338 M |
| 3 | Hostiles | $10.2 M | $12 M |
| 4 | The Greatest Showman | $9.5 M | $126.4 M |
| 5 | The Post | $8.8 M | $58.5 M |
| 6 | Den of Thieves | $8.3 M | $28.5 M |
| 7 | 12 Strong | $8.6 M | $29.7 M |
| 8 | The Shape of Water | $5.7 M | $37.6 M |
| 9 | Paddington 2 | $5.5 M | $32 M |
| 10 | Padmaavat | $4.2 M | $4.7 M |