Game Of Box Offices: “Midway” Dive Bombs “Doctor Sleep” in an Upset at the Box Office

The critics were raving but unfortunately that was not enough to put Stephen King’s “Doctor Sleep” at the top of the Box Office. Instead, Roland Emmerich’s WWII epic “Midway” took the #1 spot, opening well above its $12 million projection at $17.8 million. “Doctor Sleep” then took second with $14.1 million. The trades are already calling for a huge loss in regards to that opening number, but I’m not being so hasty. It made $35.7 million worldwide and the estimated production budget I found was $45 million. Even if the total budget, with marketing and everything landed at $100 million, it’s still over a third of the way there in one weekend. Watch it hold tight next weekend and the trades might be telling a different story. “Playing With Fire” was only supposed to open to $8 million but found its way to $12.7 million and third place, while “Last Christmas” missed its $17 million projection with a $11.4 million opening and fourth place. Surprising on the List this weekend was the international newcomer “Better Days” which landed at #17. “Honey Boy” also made a splash in its debut, not only landing at #23 but earning the POPCORN AWARD with an average of $75,266 in four theaters. “Jojo Rabbit” actually held on to the GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD for the second weekend in a row, increasing by +69.4%.

“Jojo Rabbit” was also the only film on the List to move up and only one spot at that. The rest of the entire List shifted down, with eight films falling five or more spots. Dropping exactly five spots were “The Addams Family,” “Motherless Brooklyn” (only in its second weekend), and “The Lighthouse.” “Arctic Dogs” fell six spots (also only in its second weekend) and “Black and Blue” and “Gemini Man” both fell seven spots. The big loser, however, was “The Current War,” which earned a BOMB by falling a whopping ten spots from #15 to #25, barely even holding on to a spot on the List. It has only been out for three weeks. Falling off the List entirely was “Judy,” which narrowly missed out landing the #25 spot. “Housefull 4” and “Western Stars” both fell off, which was no surprise as they had very minimal buzz. “Hustlers” fell off in its ninth weekend as it approaches home video release, making a profit of almost $85 million domestically based on its estimated production budget. “It: Chapter Two” also fell off, it in its tenth weekend after amassing almost $428 million worldwide, also based on its estimated production budget. “Ad Astra” also finally fell off losing $35 million domestically.

Next weekend, “Ford v. Ferrari” looks to overtake the ladies at the Box Office, eyeing a debut of $32 million. Elizabeth Banks’ remake of “Charlie’s Angels” should come in at second place with a projection of $18 million. Also opening is “The Good Liar,” starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren, which is looking for an opening of $7.5 million. “The Report” and “Waves” also open and could draw a crowd with any Oscar buzz they may have. Expect “Honey Boy” to climb up the List as it rolls out to more theaters and my hot take of the week, based purely on my gut instinct, is that “Doctor Sleep” will have some lasting power. Expect the BOMB to officially go off on “The Current War,” pushing it completely off the List, along with “Gemini Man,” “Downton Abbey,” and maybe even “Arctic Dogs” (if we’re lucky). “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” has also been sticking around over the last few weeks and I have to wonder how long that will keep up.

BOX OFFICE KING: “Midway”
BOX OFFICE QUEEN: “Doctor Sleep”
POPCORN AWARD*: “Honey Boy”
GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD**: “Jojo Rabbit”

#	Title	Weekend	Total	Budget	Week	LW	CH
1	Midway (LG)	$17,897,419	($17,897,419)	$100m	1st	N
2	Doctor Sleep (WB)	$14,114,124	($14,114,124)	$45m*	1st	N
3	Playing With Fire (Par)	$12,723,781	($12,723,781)	$29.9m	1st	N
4	Last Christmas (Uni)	$11,441,055	($11,441,055)	$25m	1st	N
5	Terminator: Dark Fate (Par)	$10,808,236	($48,465,366)	$185m	2nd	#1
6	Joker (WB)	$9,221,303	($313,512,810)	$55m	6th	#2
7	Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (BV)	$8,414,186	($97,714,087)	$185m*	4th	#3
8	Harriet (Focus)	$7,406,790	($23,639,930)	$17m	2nd	#4
9	Zombieland 2: Double Tap (Sony)	$4,303,498	($66,643,981)	$42m	4th	#6
10	The Addams Family (2019) (UAR)	$4,160,262	($91,427,967)	$40m*	5th	#5
11	Jojo Rabbit (FoxS)	$3,952,157	($9,128,039)	**	4th	#12
12	Countdown (STX)	$2,882,160	($22,314,665)	$6.5m*	3rd	#7
13	Parasite (2019) (Neon)	$2,591,765	($11,318,741)	$11m*	5th	#11
14	Motherless Brooklyn (WB)	$2,170,353	($7,327,427)	$26m*	2nd	#9
15	Black And Blue (SG)	$1,876,606	($19,058,471)	$12m*	3rd	#8
16	Arctic Dogs (Ent)	$1,071,246	($4,837,728)	$50m*	2nd	#10
17	Better Days (Well Go)	$989,536	($989,536)	**	1st	N
18	The Lighthouse (A24)	$918,630	($8,915,261)	**	4th	#13
19	Downton Abbey (Focus)	$634,965	($95,672,880)	$20m*	8th	#16
20	Abominable (Uni)	$449,920	($59,213,005)	$75m	7th	#17
21	Gemini Man (Par)	$411,660	($48,030,507)	$138m	5th	#14
22	Pain and Glory (SPC)	$395,573	($2,691,642)	**	6th	#21
23	Honey Boy (Amzn)	$301,065	($301,065)	$3.5m*	1st	N
24	Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (Saban)	$278,754	($2,338,948)	$10m*	4th	#23
25	The Current War (101)	$235,526	($5,719,835)	$30m*	3rd	#15

<<<ALL DOMESTIC NUMBERS FROM BOX OFFICE MOJO>>>>

OFF THE CHARTS THIS WEEK

(OFFICIALLY CLOSED)

*POPCORN AWARD goes to the highest per theater average within the Top 25 List
**GOLDEN PERCENTAGE AWARD goes to the highest increase within the Top 25 List