Box Office Three-Way and Dependable Dame Dench
Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 10:11AM by Nathaniel R
| Weekend Box Office (Sept 29th-October 1st) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide |
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| 1. KINGSMAN 2 $16.9 (cum. $66.6) | 1.🔺 TIL DEATH DO US PART $1.5 on 562 screens |
| 2. IT $16.9 (cum. $290.7) REVIEW | 5 TAKEAWAYS | 2.🔺 VICTORIA AND ABDUL $1 on 77 screens (cum. $1.3) |
| 3. 🔺 AMERICAN MADE $16.7 | 3.🔺 A QUESTION OF FAITH $1 on 661 screens |
| 4. LEGO NINJAGO MOVIE $11.6 (cum. $35.2) | 4. 🔺 STRONGER $922k on 645 screens (cum. $3.1) REVIEW |
| 5. 🔺 FLATLINERS $6.5 | 5. 🔺 JUDWAA 2 $638k on 192 screens |
| 6. 🔺 BATTLE OF THE SEXES $3.4 (cum. $4) | 6. BRAD'S STATUS $400k on 453 screens (cum. $1.7) REVIEW |
🔺 = new or significant expansion numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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A bit late on the quickie box office chart this week but for a good reason. The race for #1 was so tight between three films that it took til Monday to clear it up with the Kingsman sequel topping and the new Tom Cruise actioner American Made on bottom...
Less than $200,000 separate the top grossers -- a rare three-way squeaker). In the platform release world Battle of the Sexes expanded nicely into wide release (go see it!) and Victoria & Abdul continues to be a big draw at the arthouse because the elderly audience still actually goes to movie theaters even though Hollywood rarely thinks to cater directly to them. I know people think I've overestimated Judi Dench in the Best Actress race but I still think she's quite a formidable threat for a nomination. Stronger, which jerks tears with abandon, didn't hold as well as we thought it would in its second week but you should still expect Jake Gyllenhaal to be a force in the currently quiet Best Actor race. Tatiana Maslany (a lead though Oscar will never think so) and Miranda Richardson will both have a much harder time in the jam-packed Supporting Actress race (freshly updated chart!) but they're very good in the movie.
What did you see this weekend? I've been utterly swamped with the Smackdown, a new job (which maybe more about soon but something's gotta pay the bills when you don't donate a cup of coffee a month to TFE), various personal life stuff, and a farewell to one of my dearest four-legged friends [True story: my two best friends and I all got baby kittens within a year of each other shortly after college from 1997-1998 and they took turns leaving us in roughly the order of their birth/adoption in 2016-2017. Many pet-related tears this past year.]
The past handful of days have been so busy that I didn't manage to catch even one movie, play, or TV show (not even the Will & Grace return). Days on end without any movies, tv, or plays tend to throw my moods out of whack -- does that happen to any of you?. To quote nervous moving target Judy Davis in the seminal Husbands and Wives (1992)
Metabolically it's not my rhythm".
Reader Comments (23)
I went and saw Battle Of The Sexes. I loved it! I thought it was a great mix of being crowd pleasing and having political urgency. Also, Emma Stone gives one of her best performances.
I also saw Gerald's Game on Netflix. Its story was slightly problematic but Carla Gugino was fantastic along with Bruce Greenwood (who looks AMAZING at 61, btw)
Lastly, I saw Stronger earlier last week. Veers towards being inspiration porn but for the most part, I really liked it due to the acting from Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany.
I think you should write a post about victory lap nominations. They are not very common, but sometimes they're very deserving, like Stone this year.
No new movies for me but I did see Red River - my first Montgomery Clift movie and hoo boy is he pretty - and The Red Shoes - mostly kinda flat except for the amazing Red Shoes ballet sequence which made it worthwhile.
Plus earlier last week I saw Year of the Dog - another charming Mike White movie where he comes up with an interesting, complex protagonist and then surrounds her with well-written but basic characters (Sarsgaard being the exception here; see also: Enlightened, Beatriz at Dinner).
I saw VICTORIA AND ABDUL and thought La Dench was absolutely divine. Crazy to think she may not garner an Oscar nomination for this. Also, it's the most satisfying Frears film since THE QUEEN.
I watched Brad's Status - I liked the screenplay, Ben Stiller's performance and how it tapped into male insecurities without being annoying.
I also watched Battle of the Sexes. I wasn't expecting to love this but I did. The screenplay could have been better but it's a great tale of a woman wrestling with her identify while contributing to social change. I loved the whole ensemble, but Emma Stone was fantastic and it's one of her best performances. Linus Sangdren's cinematography was also great.
I saw Battle of the Sexes. I wondered if maybe some of the feminism went down a little too easy, but I thought Emma Stone was great. I am rooting hard for Frances and Chastain, but I would not mind seeing Emma nominated for Best Actress this year at all.
I also saw Battle of the Sexes and thought it was great. It was funny, smart, and an overall great time at the movies. Emma Stone was terrific--definitely a nomination-worthy performance--and I liked Carrel. Great supporting performances from Silverman, Shue, and Riseborough as well.
I didn't realize Battle of the Sexes had a wide release. My theater didn't get it, but we did get Judwaa 2. Glad to see It is still high on the box office list though. That makes me happy.
IT - Very well done for its genre. Constantly surprising and scary. My only concern is that traumatizing children for two hours has become entertainment.
Kingsman (first film) - Very entertaining, especially on a TV screen (I may have not liked in a theater).
The Handmaid's Tale - Excellent. Love the entire cast.
Good luck at Starbuck's!
Finally saw some of last year's big releases (I know, always late to the party) -
Jackie
Loved it, especially loved Portman (who rarely impresses me). The film was robbed of Picture, Director and Cinematography nods
Moonlight
Really liked it, especially the final third. I loved Maherahala and Naomie (which I expected to) but my MVPs were Trevante and Janelle (which I absolutely didn't expect!) For such a deep ensemble, I'm surprised (and disappointed) that all nominations and wins revolved around the same two actors - I'd have expected there to be much more internal competition. Maybe the distributor knew that by focusing on two performances they'd achieve two nominations? Or maybe all voters lack imagination?
***Mahershala***
Damn predictive text!!!!
Jono -- LOL! I do love coffee.
I was prepping all week for moving to a new apartment on Sunday, so while the weekend was a wash, I did treat myself on Monday night to Battle of the Sexes, which was super enjoyable but tried a bit too hard on the feel-good, "this is still relevant to today!" stuff (Alan Cumming's last line was such a HUGE needle-scratch of a moment). Emma Stone was phenomenal, she's definitely a threat in Best Actress, and I loved Sarah Silverman, Andrea Riseborough, and Natalie Morales in supporting roles, too.
So Sally's cold in bed?
That shouldn't surprise you she's very cerebral anyhow.
I think it's Bening who you're overestimating. Not Dench, whom I agree. Seems to really appeal to a group of voters, the one that got her in the past for Mrs. Henderson Presents or Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins. And with her in contention I think it pushes Bening further down the line as they'll be going for the same.
Oh by the way. Claire Foy is following Maslany's route and going supporting for Breathe as well, which I think shoots her up to the predicted top 5.
The only thing I saw this weekend was a rewatch of Ghost World.
I saw "Victoria and Abdul" which is a very satisfying picture- yes Dench is always good but the rest of the cast was superb- Ali Fazel was handsome and charming. Great looking film the costumes were striking.
@DJDeeJay- if you think Monty looks hot in "Red River" you have to see him in " A Place in the Sun"
Never underestimate the excellence and appeal of Judi Dench.
I have not had a chance to see her latest version of Victoria but I was a fan of Philomena and didn't mind her getting nominated, so I would rate her chances as being higher than Benning's.
Dench is beloved by a audiences and the academy.
Saw FLATLINERS (bad, except for Ellen Page), TIL DEATH DO US PART (best for waiting on DVD, liked Robinne Lee), HOME AGAIN (ok, should've waited for it on DVD), and BATTLE OF THE SEXES (well worth the advance screening - loved Emma Stone and Austin Stowell). A lot of these films I should've skipped but alas that MoviePass made me think I should utilize it. I guess I should stick to films with really excellent reviews versus falling for the ones with actors I like.
Judi Dench still holds one of the few Oscar records not yet snatched away by Meryl Streep - most acting nominations after the 60th birthday. Dench (who was never nominated before turning 60) leads Streep seven to five (everyone else, including Katharine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier, and Edith Evans, never got more than three); another nomination might help her to keep that record at least for a few more years.
Pleased to see Richardson so (relatively) high on your predictions. I think she'll go all the way.
Till is spelled with two L's. It's not a contraction of until; "till" preceded "until" by about 200 years.