The amount of money a particular film brings in does not indicate quality or impact one’s experience with that film.
However, the box office can certainly tell a lot about what will be coming in the future either in a certain franchise or in a certain genre. This is the latest on the box office at this time of year.
The biggest release of the year is, once again, a Star Wars feature.
The Last Jedi is the 8th film in the franchise and is a direct sequel to Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). The Force Awakens was the highest grossing movie of all time in North America, pulling in approximately $936 million according to Box Office Mojo.
Of course, that film had been anticipated for decades, resulting in an unprecedented performance at the box office. So, will The Last Jedi even come close to that number?
There will be a few factors to watch out for once the movie hits theaters next week:
1. How will the reviews pan out? Many films make their profits solely based on critics’ opinions alone, even big blockbusters like Star Wars.
2. Is the anticipation as palpable as the other features in the franchise? The middle chapter of each Star Wars trilogy thus far,The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Attack of the Clones (2002), has been unable to perform up to the standards of the other sections of each saga. Can The Last Jedi break that trend by marketing to its strengths?
3. Will the run time impact the film’s performance? Longer films equal less showtimes, which can result in less opportunities for ticket purchases. The Last Jedi is 2 hours and 30 minutes long, making it both a long blockbuster and the longest movie in Star Wars.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi comes into theaters on December 15, 2017.
The Disaster Artist is directed by James Franco and also stars Franco, along with his brother Dave.
The film is a biopic that follows Tommy Wiseau, who came to Hollywood seeking an opportunity to make it big in the film industry. His big project, The Room, started a cult following for “being so bad that it’s good,” even though that was not Wiseau’s intention.
To get a better idea of how this movie will perform, here are the box office results of other biopics that are “movies about a movie.”
Saving Mr. Banks (2013): Domestic total of about $83 million on a $35 million budget.
Be Kind Rewind (2011): Domestic total of about $11 million.
Ed Wood (1994): Domestic total of about $5 million on an $18 million budget.
So far, The Disaster Artist has very favorable reviews and has had positive buzz surrounding its release since it was fist screened for critics an entire month ago. Throw in stars like Franco, his brother Dave, Seth Rogen, as well as others and this could turn out to be a highly profitable project.
The Disaster Artist is released worldwide on Friday, December 8th.
Justice League and Coco
No one would ever dare to compare the box office performance of Justice League and Coco, but I lumped them together because they are both already in theaters and are both about to be wiped out by The Last Jedi.
Despite the fact that they are running into a buzz saw next week, these two popular properties have had success in the past. DC Comics has produced multiple billion-dollar movies and Pixar has also accomplished that feat recently.
Justice League, however, has run into terrible reviews and word of mouth, resulting in an underwhelming box office run after three weeks. Films that contain famous superheroes such as Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman should make one billion dollars just on principle. Unfortunately, this feature which cost a reported $300 million to make, will struggle to reach $250 million domestically and $650 million worldwide.
Coco is another story.
This one crept up on moviegoers a bit. The marketing was subtle but effective, as Coco has raked in around $135 million domestically in two weeks of action. For an animated feature, this seems to be good business and the movie seems to be having good legs, meaning it has not dropped off very much since its release.
Coco and Justice League can be found now in most theaters across the United States.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
This retelling of the original Jumanji (1995) is the perfect example of counter-marketing.
Getting in the way of a Star Wars movie probably is not the brightest idea for a movie studio, but that is exactly what Jumanji is doing and it is no coincidence. Although both films can be considered science fiction pieces, they are vastly different properties and Jumanji will try to lure the moviegoers who either A. have already seen the new installment of the space opera franchise or B. have no interest in Star Wars.
Instead of backing down, Jumanji is lunging head-first into the storm. Will it pay off?
One comparison that comes to mind is Sisters (2015), a comedy that features Amy Poehler and Tina Fey. Universal decided to release the film on the same date as The Force Awakens, which seemed like a questionable move but proved to be useful.
Sisters used several commercials which directly made fun of Star Wars in order to relate with audiences, and the results were undeniable. One of them, which blatantly rips on a behind-the-scenes look at The Force Awakens, can be found here. The comedy made $87 million domestically on just a $30 million budget.
Another comparison that went in the opposite direction is Collateral Beauty (2016), which was released on the same weekend as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Will Smith drama contrasted the Star Wars style, but poor reviews led to poor numbers when it brought in just $31 million on a $36 million budget.
So, Jumanji will have to prove that it is a worthy adversary to The Last Jedi in order to replicate the success of Sisters.
Jumanji will be released on Wednesday, December 20.
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