movieminis

Maze Runner: The Death Cure, the final installment in the series, opened to an estimated $23.5 million this past weekend to top the box office. The Dylan O’Brien led young adult action franchise has seen great financial success due in large part to the films’ ability to make a dent on a comparably low budget — the first being made for $34 million, the second for $61 million and this one for $62 million. Add in The Death Cure‘s international haul of $82 million, bringing the worldwide total to $105.5 million, and the film is already close to breaking even.

While Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was finally unseated, the film still only dropped 15.9%, making another $16.4 million. It has officially passed It and Spider-Man: Homecoming to become the fifth largest domestic grosser released in 2017. It’s approximately $50 million behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Having released in most international markets, it will likely fall just short.

Coming in third with an estimated $10.205 million was Hostiles, which expanded wide this past weekend after opening in limited release on December 22. The film reportedly had a budget of $39 million, meaning that it will have to climb to approximately $80 million to break even. While Christian Bale and crew were among those vying for Oscar nominations, the film fell short, perhaps due to a late October purchase by brand new distribution company Entertainment Studios — an unfortunate result as Bale’s performance is one of his best.

The Greatest Showman will just not quit, taking home $9.5 million for fourth place and a domestic total of $126.475 million. With two more solid weekends, the film should pass Transformers: The Last Knight, Wonder and Split on the 2017 domestic chart.

Finally, the recent Oscar nominees have faired well. The Post earned an estimated $8.85 million to bring its worldwide total to $83.035 million. It will certainly break even off of its $50 million budget. The Shape of Water added 1,001 theaters, making $5.7 million to bring its worldwide total to $51.581 million. The Guillermo del Toro film was made for an astonishing $19.5 million, meaning that it’s veering into profit territory now.

*All weekend numbers are domestic, meaning that they’re from theaters in the US and Canada, and are also estimates, reported by Box Office Mojo, with actuals coming out in the next few days.*

 

Featured image via 20th Century Fox.