Weekend Estimates: Jumanji and Greatest Showman in Record Territory
February 4, 2018
In spite of a decent opening, Winchester is proving to be no match for Jumanji this weekend. The holiday holdover returns to top spot on the chart in its seventh weekend with $11 million, down 32% from last time out. That makes it four weekends at the top of the chart for Jumanji, after opening in second place back on December 20. One needs to go back the best part of 30 years to find a film that matches that performance.
Excluding The Lion King and Legends of the Fall, which both opened in a handful of theaters and went straight to number one when they expanded wide, the last film not to open at number one and then to record four weekends at the top of chart was Aladdin. That film also opened in a handful of theaters, but was only in second place when it expanded wide over Thanksgiving weekend in 1992 (behind Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, if you’re curious). After sitting out of top spot all through the holidays, Aladdin first topped the chart over the weekend of January 1, 1993, and proceeded to record four number one weekends through the month of January.
Another film with a similar run is Rain Man, which opened in second place the weekend of December 16, 1988 before posting five straight weekends at the top of the chart at the beginning of 1989 (and a sixth weekend at the top after its Oscar wins in late March). Stakeout managed a similar feat in 1987, with five straight weekends at the top after opening in second place.
The granddaddy of them all, incidentally, is the original Star Wars movie, which opened in second place to Smokey and the Bandit over Memorial Day Weekend, 1977 and recorded at least 17 weekends at the top of the chart. Records are incomplete before 1980, so the actual figure might be slightly higher.
All of which is by way of saying that Jumanji is in exalted company, and its box office run has been very unusual.
While we’re on the subject of obscure but remarkable records, The Greatest Showman will record its sixth weekend at number four on the chart. Surprisingly, that’s actually quite a long way from the record. Dances with Wolves managed to come fourth on the chart nine times during its long, long run in 1990 and 1991. Gandhi was fourth seven times in 1983, and is the only other film ahead of Showman. When Harry Met Sally is the only film to match it, with six number fours in 1989. None of these four films ever made it to the top of the chart.
Part of the reason for the longevity of Jumanji and Greatest Showman is the relative lack of competition since the holidays. None of the new releases has performed particularly strongly, and the Oscar contenders have hovered around $2 million to $5 million each weekend rather than really breaking out. We might finally break out of that pattern next weekend, with Fifty Shades Freed, Peter Rabbit, and The 15:17 to Paris all having the potential to beat Jumanji handily. If one of them slips, however, a seventh weekend in fourth place for Greatest Showman can’t be ruled out.
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Filed under: Weekend Estimates, The Greatest Showman, Fifty Shades Freed, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Peter Rabbit, Winchester, The 15:17 to Paris