Okay, ready. This is a big post today. We're looking at everything in wide release (all 21 films) and their counterparts at the arthouse to see how the Oscar nominations affected the box office.
Weekend Box Office (Actual)
(January 25th-27th)
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W I D E
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PLATFORM / LIMITED
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1 Glass $18.8 on 3844 screens (cum. $73.4) Review
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1 Uri: Surgical Street $630k on 132 screens (cum. $2.7) |
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9 Escape Room $4.1 on 2192 screens (cum. $47.7)
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9 🔺 Perfect Strangers $68k on 66 screens (cum. $892k)
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11 Dragon Ball Super Brony $3 on 1126 screens (cum. $28.2)
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11 Racetime $50k on 66 screens (cum. $1.7)
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12 Bumblebee $2.9 on 2108 screens (cum. $121.4)
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12 Simmba $46k on 30 screens (cum. $5)
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15 On the Basis of Sex $2 on 1272 screens (cum. $21) Review
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15 🔺 Belle & Sebastian, Friends for Life $37k on 3 screens *NEW*
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17 The Mule $1.6 on 1395 screens (cum. $100.1) Review
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17 🔺 The Invisibles $27k on 4 screens *NEW*
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20 Ralph Breaks the Internet $1.1 on 1029 screens (cum. $195.9) Animated Feature Nominee
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20 The Bounty Killer $20k on 15 screens *NEW*
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In wide release The Favourite and Green Book were up 212% and 153% respectively, getting by far the biggest boosts from the Oscar nomination announcement. One must assume that this is because they're amongthe least seen of the Best Picture nominees so people were suddenly like "oh, yeah, I meant to see that... A Star is Born (112%) also saw a boost in its leggy 17th weekend. Bohemian Rhapsody (7%) didn't get as large a boost despite re-expanding because everyone who meant to see it obviously has. Of the five Best Picture nominees still in wide release, Vice, curiously, got the smallest boost (4%) despite 8 nominations and despite being the third overall lowest gross of the nominees, ahead of only The Favourite and Roma (which did not report grosses because Netflix wants to have their cake and eat it, too.)
In limited release the 3 times nominated wonderful Can You Ever Forgive Me? got the biggest boost up 765% from the previous weekend, returning to hundreds of theaters. It had been on fumes for weeks, no surprise given that this is its 15th weekend in theaters
Of the foreign film nominees Cold War, also a three time nominee (Best Cinematography, Best Director, and Best Foreign Film), got the biggest boost from the golden news, up 109% from the previous weekend, but it was already growing nicely. It will soon its competition Shoplifters (+14%) as one of the top ten highest grossing foreign-language hits of 2018. Lebanon's riveting child on the streets refugee drama Capernaum got a small boost (+46%) but it doesn't seem to be catching on with audiences. At least not yet so we'll hold out hope.
Finally Never Look Away, Germany's double-nominated contender, didn't fare as well. It debuted with a very timid one screen release and earned $25k. But maybe Sony Pictures Classics was too busy with its careful handling of The Wife (+34%). The Glenn Close Best Actress frontrunner drama has quietly amassed a solid $8.7 over 24 weeks (!!!) without ever leaving theaters or going into wide release. Every opportunity they've had to give it another shot they've taken it, reexpanding a few times over the run at various junctures, most noisily after the surprise Golden Globe win.
And in off-Oscar news, Clint Eastwood's The Mule quietly passed the magic $100 million mark. That man is still bankable after all these years.
DID YOU GO TO THE MOVIES THIS WEEKEND?
Monday, January 28, 2019 at 7:00PM 
Reader Comments (27)
I didn't go to the theaters this weekend, but as an Indie Spirit voter, I take my duties very (too?) seriously and plowed through my screeners and streaming opportunities. So far I've loved Shoplifters (Best Movie of 2018?), Can You Ever Forgive Me and Wildfire. Did not like You Were Never Here, Support the Girls and If Beale Street Could Talk. Lots of stuff in the middle.
Also Suspiria was a disaster, but it certainly held my attention. And correction: You Were Never REALLY Here. Whichever title,it was still a disgrace.
The Mules success is quite overwhelming,not much press and cruised to 100 million,only on the legend that's Clint at nearly 90.
On Oscar nomination morning, I was hoping above all else a nomination for Burning for the simple reason that it would then hopefully return to my area so I could actually watch it lol. Unfortunately that was not the case so I will have to wait until the Blu-ray comes out.
I did however watch Can You Ever Forgive Me? which was a great acting showcase for both McCarthy and Grant, who I don't believe I've ever seen in a movie. I thought the screenplay was the strongest part of the movie so it was nice to see it was nominated as well.
I watched Cold War, which is really good thanks to the female lead. It's beautiful in black and white.
True Detective, which is slow and mildly testing my patience. It's probably the best I have ever seen Mamie Gummer, even if her role is small.
Sex Education. This is funny and well done with schizophrenic American/English accented Gillian Anderson in fine form, and Asa Butterfield also quite good.
Saw FREE SOLO. It's a good film but, having also seen THE DAWN WALL only last month, I wondered what distinguished the two so that one was an Oscar nominee and the other was not, as they are pretty much the same movie! (I am guessing "publicity team" is the answer to my wondering.)
Oh God, please forgive me, but I didn't love Beale Street.
@Travis C: Free Solo and The Dawn Wall involve different people with very different stories about climbing the same mountain.
I saw GREEN BOOK - after all the words spit out across the Internets, I wanted to form my own opinion. I loved Viggo and Mahershala's performances, and their chemistry on screen. (I don't see Mahershala as a lead, since it's so clearly the White Man's story.) (I'm also kind of obsessing on his many-layered performance in True Detective S3, which shows so much range and subtlety.)
Green Book's script produced a lot of laughs in the moment, and I can see why it's so palatable for Academy members. It goes down easy. But a couple days later the whole thing sort of hardens into an indigestible lump of sloppy representation and cheap script choices and falseness. Once again -- as with Bohemian Rhapsody -- a gay/bi man is turned into an isolated individual with no real agency over his sexuality, and the straight people around him are somehow supposed to be super enlightened/nonhomophobic as they help sort out his identity for him.
Oops, scratch that, I see they are about the same person! LOL
I saw Serenity, honestly, in large part due to Jason's review here. And THANK GOD, because it is the most insane movie I've seen in a LONG time. It's honestly as if Steven Knight wrote a decent 90s-erotic-thriller riff, but everybody rejected it, so he got stupid drunk, cried out "I'LL SHOW THEM ALL!" in his best crazy villain voice, and rewrote it with the sole purpose of making it so far out there that somebody, somewhere would HAVE to produce it. It is an absolute must-see, because it just defies description and belief. It NEEDS to be seen to be believed.
Saw Destroyer, and I’m disappointed that all I ever heard about it was Kidman Kidman Kidman, because while I’m a big Kidman fan, that was an usually well-made and engrossing film, and I wonder if marketing it almost exclusively as a Kidman awards vehicle limited the number of people who’d have prioritized seeing it.
The Favourite, The Party & Green Book! All good - entertaining and Patrician clarkson is a goddess but we all knew that!
and Grant, who I don't believe I've ever seen in a movie.
Look up his IMDB you've seen him in tons of things when he was a younger man.
@/3rtful. All you add to this blog are stats .. you seldom show any depth in the movies
themselves.
I saw Vice last week, which was a bit trying. The tone was a bit too self-aware and in love with itself for my tastes. That said, even though I don't want it to win in any of the acting categories, the performances WERE good. Bale definitely inhabits the role, and Adams performance is not the ho-hum, big-fat "whatever" that a lot of folks on here are insisting it is. I will say I'm perplexed by the Rockwell nomination, though--Carell was much better.
I did leave the film feeling depressed. We're so inundated with horrible news about horrible politicians all the time. Vice never lost my interest, but there are definitely some days where I feel like I can't absorb any more information about how wretched people that are running our country are/have been. Vice felt like the feel-bad movie of the year ... not that I was expecting it to be uplifting!
Saw the bonkers "Serenity". Seriously, don't spoil yourself if you're seeing it.
Also, finally "Can You Ever Forgive Me?" which well deserves all 3 nominations it got. Sad but funny. McCarthy really has some range, and how did Grant get pushed aside this season?
I saw Serenity over the weekend and kinda loved it. I went on a Twitter rant about it today. Instead of rehashing, here's a link: https://twitter.com/wjmckelvey/status/1089993850284920832
Also rewatched A Fantastic Woman, which holds up well on repeat viewings. This time, I was struck by Matthew Herbert's tremendous score and the little grace notes of Daniela Vega's woefully underrated performance.
Watched SHOPLIFTERS which was really good. Also finally saw the Oscar nominated shorts BAO and ONE SMALL STEP which were cute and had quite a bit of heart. Then caught up with some shows that aired new episodes (THE GOOD PLACE, CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND, THIS IS US) while continuing my bingewatching of SCHITTS CREEK!
I love Clint the star, I hate Clint the politician, but I adore Clint the director for being active in his age, making movies every year, good and bad. I only wish Wong Kar Wai (my favorite director of the last 30 years) were this busy.
I've gotta stand up for /3rtful, who, I think, regularly intervenes in thought-provoking ways. I don't always agree, but I'd miss /3rtful's comments. And absolutely nothing wrong with the comment about Richard E. Grant and IMDb. Isn't it the sort of thing you'd say to a friend in the pub?
Scott C -- i also think DESTROYER as a movie is much better than people have made it out to be. I kind of loved its circular oroborus structure and the music and cinematography. Kidman was strong but she was not the only reason to see it.
George P -- embarrassingly i have never seen Schitts Creek so I watched one episode this week and was giggling throughout.
Dancin Dan -- hear hear. Bless Jason forever for convincing me to see that immediately so that it wasn't spoiled for me.
@ /3rtful - I stand corrected; after perusing his IMDb page, I can say that I've seen him before in a handful of movies, albeit in small roles. But this is the first movie where I've seen him in such a central (and memorable) role.
@ Edward L. - I agree on all counts.
If you've watched season 2 of Ab Fab (the Hospital episode), you've seen Richard E Grant in a great cameo, too.
Regarding 3rtful: yes he can be blunt but I think his comments are usually very interesting, often Right On. People pick on him way too much. Keep on doin what yer doin 3rtful.
Note to Nathaniel: keep watching Schitt's Creek! It honestly gets better and better with every season. I've grown to absolutely love all of the main characters.
I saw "Serenity" and "fun" or "entertaining" would not be words I would use to describe it. The worst part was the waste of all that talent in this ridiculous movie. And Diane Lane should have played Anne Hathaway's part. She would have been far more convincing as the femme fatale.