‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ dominates

LOS ANGELES — Disney’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” maintained its perch at the top of the box office for a third consecutive weekend, adding $33.7 million for a cumulative $450.8 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.

The film has grossed $918.8 million globally and stands to become Disney’s seventh 2019 release to cross the billion-dollar milestone.

In second place, Sony’s “Jumanji: The Next Level” added $26.5 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $236.2 million.

At No. 3, the studio’s “Little Women” added $13.6 million in its second weekend (a mere 19 per cent drop) for a cumulative $60 million.

In fourth place, the first nationwide release of the new year, Sony’s reboot of “The Grudge”, opened with $11.3 million, within range of analyst projections of $11 million to $13 million.

Produced by Sam Raimi, the film is a reboot of 2004’s popular horror film, which itself is a remake of the Japanese series.

It was poorly received with a 16 per cent “rotten” score on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and a rare F rating from audiences on CinemaScore. Less than two dozen movies have ever received the failing grade with the last being Darren Aronofsky’s “Mother” in 2017.

Rounding out the top five, Disney’s “Frozen 2” added $11.29 million in its seventh weekend for a cumulative $449.9 million. The film is now the highest grossing animated film of all time worldwide with $1.32 billion in global receipts.

At No. 6, Fox’s animated “Spies in Disguise” added $10.1 million in its second weekend (a small 24 per cent drop) for a cumulative $46.7 million.

In seventh place, Lionsgate’s “Knives Out” added $9 million in its sixth weekend for a cumulative $130.3 million.

At No. 8, A24’s “Uncut Gems” added $7.8 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $36.8 million.

In ninth place, Lionsgate’s “Bombshell” added $4.1 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $24.6 million.

Rounding out the top 10, Universal’s “Cats” added $2.6 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $24.7 million.

In limited release, Universal’s “1917” added $590,000 across 11 locations in its second weekend (up from its $570,000 debut last weekend) for an impressive per-screen average of $53,100 and a cumulative $2.3 million.

Warner Bros.’ “Just Mercy” remained in four locations in its second weekend, adding $76,000 for a per-screen average of $19,069 and a cumulative $400,000.

Neon’s “Clemency” expanded into nine locations in its second weekend (up from two in its debut) to $32,011 for a per-screen average of $3,557 and a cumulative $78,551.

This weekend, “1917” and “Just Mercy” expand into wide release, Paramount releases the Tiffany Haddish comedy “Like a Boss” and Fox opens the action thriller “Underwater”.

By Sonaiya Kelley