'1917' Defeats 'Star Wars' With $36.5 Million Weekend
Variety.com: Sam Mendes’ “1917” marched to box office victory, earning a solid $36.5 million from 3,434 theaters in its first weekend of wide release.
Universal and DreamWorks’ World War I drama defeated Disney’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” the final chapter in the sequel trilogy that has ruled box office charts since debuting in late December. The tentpole slid to second place, generating another $15 million for a domestic haul of $478 million. Globally, “Rise of Skywalker” has amassed $990 million and should cross the billion-dollar mark next week.
Since opening in limited release on Christmas Day, “1917” has earned $39.22 million in North America. The movie also kicked off overseas this weekend, picking up $21.17 million from 28 international territories. That brings its global tally to $60 million.
“1917” is undoubtedly capitalizing on awards season attention, an encouraging sign on the eve of Oscar nominations. In a surprise Golden Globes victory last Sunday, the film beat odds-on favorites “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story” to take home the statue for best motion picture – drama. Mendes also nabbed the best director prize. Amblin Partners and New Republic backed the $90 million film, which has enjoyed critical raves.
“Awards season buzz and box-office success often run on parallel tracks and in the case of ‘1917,’ Universal’s perfectly executed platform release strategy is paying box office dividends and post-Globes, pre-Oscar awards season momentum,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst with Comscore.
To movie theater owners and studio executives, “1917” is emblematic of the kind of experience ticket buyers can only get on the big-screen. The movie follows young British soldiers (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman) tasked with the dangerous mission of delivering a message that could save hundreds of lives. The slice-of-life war epic unspools to look like one unbroken shot, resulting in an edge-of-your-seat journey that makes audiences feel like they, too, are in the trenches. Moviegoers, most of whom were older males, appear enthusiastic about the film, awarding it with an A- CinemaScore.
“This is a film that’s best seen in its most immersive environment,” said Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr. “From the cinematography to everything involved in the film, it’s an epic achievement. When you tell a new story in an extraordinary way, audiences will come out.”
Commercial prospects for “1917” look promising, though they won’t erase the studio’s embarrassing swing-and-a-miss with “Cats.” The universally savaged musical adaptation from Tom Hooper will lose the studio $100 million after a dismal showing in multiplexes. The film relinquished over half its theatres four weeks in, scraping together $520,000 from 818 venues. “Cats,” which cost $100 million to produce, has posted $26 million in the U.S. to date and isn’t expected to hit the $30 million mark in North America.