Coco threepeats at box office as Star Wars: The Last Jedi looms
A week before Star Wars: The Last Jedi throws open the end-of-year floodgates, Coco is enjoying the lull.
With all the major studios forgoing new wide releases for the second week in a row, Disney and Pixar’s Day of the Dead-themed animated musical is set to top the box office for a third consecutive weekend, grossing an estimated $18.3 million in 3,748 theaters in the U.S. and Canada.
That would bring Coco’s domestic total to $135.5 million after 19 days in theaters, while an estimated $55.3 million from foreign markets this weekend would push its international total to $254 million (for a worldwide total of $389.5 million).
Directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina, Coco centers on a 12-year-old Mexican boy (voiced by newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) who confronts his family’s ancestral ban on music. The cast includes Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, and Alanna Ubach. The film received excellent reviews from critics and an A-plus CinemaScore from moviegoers.
Meanwhile, James Franco’s meta-movie comedy The Disaster Artist is poised to break into the top five after expanding to 840 theaters from 19 last week. The A24 release is on pace for about $6.4 million, edging out Marvel’s threequel Thor: Ragnarok ($6.3 million) for fourth place and bringing its domestic total to $8 million.
Directed by and starring Franco, and based on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell’s book of the same name, The Disaster Artist chronicles the making of Tommy Wiseau’s notoriously bad — and much beloved — 2003 independent film The Room. Critics have applauded Franco’s film, which also stars brother Dave Franco (as Sestero), Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, and Ari Graynor.
Rounding out the top five are Warner Bros. and DC’s Justice League at No. 2, with an estimated $9.6 million, and Lionsgate’s Wonder at No. 3, with an estimated $8.5 million.
The former film recently crossed the $200-million mark domestically and is now north of $600 million globally; the latter movie is on track to break $100 million by the end of the weekend.
Squeaking in to the top 10 is the ironically titled comedy Just Getting Started, which represents the final production from embattled upstart Broad Green Pictures. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Morgan Freeman, and Rene Russo, and directed by Ron Shelton, the film is set to debut in 2,161 theaters with about $3.2 million.
On the specialty front, the darkly comic Tonya Harding biopic I, Tonya is bowing in four theaters with an estimated $245,602, which works out to a robust per-screen average of $61,400. The critically acclaimed film stars Margot Robbie as the infamous figure skater, along with Allison Janney, Sebastian Stan, and Julianne Nicholson. Craig Gillespie directed, and Neon/30West are distributing.
Next week marks the arrival of The Last Jedi, which is expected to be a huge blockbuster and will herald a slew of major holiday releases.
According to ComScore, overall box office is down 3.9 percent year-to-date. Check out the Dec. 8-10 figures below.
1. Coco — $18.3 million
2. Justice League — $9.6 million
3. Wonder — $8.5 million
4. The Disaster Artist — $6.4 million
5. Thor: Ragnarok — $6.3 million
6. Daddy’s Home 2 — $6 million
7. Murder on the Orient Express — $5.1 million
8. The Star — $3.7 million
9. Lady Bird — $3.5 million
10. Just Getting Started — $3.2 million
