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LOS ANGELES 鈥� 鈥淢aze Runner: The Death Cure鈥� is the highest grossing film of the weekend, but according to studio estimates Sunday, many moviegoers also chose the first weekend after Oscar nominations to catch up with some awards contenders like 鈥淭he Shape of Water鈥� which had its highest grossing frame with $5.7 million.
In first place, 鈥淭he Death Cure鈥� took in a higher than expected $23.5 million. It鈥檚 the third and final installment in the 鈥淢aze Runner鈥� series based on James Dashner鈥檚 dystopian young adult novels and the weakest opening of the three (the first opened to $32.5 million and the second to $30.3 million). Part of that may be attributable to stalled momentum and a two-and-a-half-year gap between the second and third film. 鈥淭he Death Cure鈥檚鈥� release was delayed a year by 20th Century Fox after star Dylan O鈥橞rien鈥檚 on-set injury in early 2016.
It was still enough to push 鈥淛umanji: Welcome to the Jungle鈥� back down to second place for the first time in three weeks. Down only 16 per cent, 鈥淛umanji鈥� added $16.4 million, bringing its total to a robust $338.1 million.
鈥淚t was going to take a big franchise film to knock 鈥橨umanji鈥� off the top of the chart,鈥� said comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
In third place, the Christian Bale Western 鈥淗ostiles鈥� expanded wide to 2,816 theatres in its sixth weekend and earned $10.2 million. The Hugh Jackman musical 鈥淭he Greatest Showman鈥� kept going strong in fourth with $9.5 million, down only 11 per cent, and now boasting a total of $126.5 million.
Many audiences also took advantage of the added theatre counts of many Oscar hopefuls following nominations Tuesday. Steven Spielberg鈥檚 Pentagon Papers drama 鈥淭he Post,鈥� from 20th Century Fox, placed fifth in its third weekend in wide release with $8.9 million.
Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 fantasy romance 鈥淭he Shape of Water,鈥� which had a leading 13 nominations for Fox Searchlight, added 1,001 theatres which put it back in the top 10 in its ninth weekend of release. The film is nominated for best picture, best director, best actress (Sally Hawkins), supporting actress (Octavia Spencer) and supporting actor (Richard Jenkins), among others and has grossed $37.7 million to date.
Fox Searchlight also added theatres for 鈥淭hree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,鈥� which scored seven Oscar nominations Tuesday, and earned $3.6 million over the weekend (an 88 per cent boost). And Focus Features upped the theatre count for 鈥淒arkest Hour鈥� and 鈥淧hantom Thread,鈥� which both took in $2.9 million after getting 6 nominations each.
鈥淭he Oscars offer the greatest marketing hook in the history of movies. These are films that would usually be played out,鈥� said Dergarabedian. 鈥淔or audiences, it鈥檚 a validation. If anyone is on the fence, a best picture nomination is a pretty good way to push people in the direction of the movie theatre.鈥�
With six weeks to go until the Oscars, there is plenty of time to catch up on the best picture nominees, but they won鈥檛 be without competition 鈥� the third installment of the 鈥淔ifty Shades of Grey鈥� franchise opens Feb. 9 and on Feb. 16 the highly anticipated 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� roars into theatres.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to comScore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1.鈥淢aze Runner: The Death Cure,鈥� $23.5 million
2.鈥淛umanji: Welcome to the Jungle,鈥� $16.4 million.
3.鈥淗ostiles,鈥� $10.2 million.鈥�
4.鈥淭he Greatest Showman,鈥� $9.5 million.
5.鈥淭he Post,鈥� $8.9 million.
6.鈥�12 Strong,鈥� $8.6 million.
7.鈥淒en of Thieves,鈥� $8.4 million.
8.鈥淭he Shape of Water,鈥� $5.7 million.
9.鈥淧addington 2,鈥� $5.6 million.
10.鈥淪tar Wars: The Last Jedi,鈥� $4.2 million.
