‘1917,’ ‘Just Mercy’ Score Big Limited Release Starts at Christmas Box Office
Sundance jury prize winner “Clemency” also opened in limited release this weekend
Jeremy Fuster | December 29, 2019 @ 10:50 AM
Last Updated: December 29, 2019 @ 11:50 AM
Universal/Warner Bros
Despite horrendous headlines with its “Cats,” Universal found some box office success this holiday season with DreamWorks “1917,” which earned a strong $1 million in limited Christmas Day release. Warner Bros.’ “Just Mercy” also is off to a strong $228,000 five-day, four-screen opening.
“1917” was released on Wednesday on 11 screens in seven cities and earned a $1 million start over five days, including $570,000 from Friday to Sunday for a per screen average of $51,818. Sam Mendes’ World War I film has earned critical and audience acclaim with an A on CinemaScore and a 90% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes to go with three Golden Globe nominations, including Best Picture.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. gave “Just Mercy” the traditional four-screen platform release, earning a $228,000 start that includes a $110,000 FSS total and a $27,500 weekend average. Critics gave the social justice drama positive reviews with a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score, but audiences have gone wild for the film with a 98% audience RT score and an A+ from all demographics in CinemaScore polls. Both “1917” and “Just Mercy” will go wide on Jan. 10, three days before Oscar nominations are announced.
“1917” stars George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman as two British WWI soldiers given less than 24 hours to reach a planned attack on retreating German forces and stop it before they fall into an ambush that could kill hundreds. Colin Firth, Mark Strong and Benedict Cumberbatch also star in the film, which Mendes directed and co-wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns.
“Just Mercy” tells the true story of Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan), a Montgomery-born Harvard law graduate who gives up lucrative job offers to become a defense attorney in a Deep South still rampant with prejudice. As one of his first cases, he becomes the pro bono representative for Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a man wrongfully imprisoned and sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman. Brie Larson also stars in the film directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also co-wrote with Andrew Lanham.
NEON’s “Clemency,” which won the U.S. Dramatic Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance, arrived on two screens in Los Angeles and New York on Friday, grossing $37,000 for a per screen average of $18,500. “Clemency” stars Alfre Woodard as a death row prison warden overseeing the execution of an inmate (Aldis Hodge) convicted of robbery and murder. Wendell Pierce and Richard Schiff also star in the film, which was written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu and has a 98% Rotten Tomatoes.
9 Female-Led Superhero Films in 2020, From 'The Eternals' to 'Wonder Woman 1984' (Photos)
Next year is going to be a big one for super-powered women, with 9 female-led superhero movies hitting theaters in 2020. And if rough estimates pan out, these films could combine to gross over $4 billion at movie theaters worldwide. Not only that, but if 12 months from now "Birds of Prey," "Mulan," "Black Widow, "Wonder Woman 1984," and "Eternals" are among the year's 10 highest grossing films, it will be the first time ever that the list will have gender parity among directors. Read on to see which women will be kicking asses in movie theaters throughout 2020.
1. "The Rhythm Section" -- Jan. 31
January kicks off with Blake Lively's long-anticipated spy thriller "The Rhythm Section," a possible franchise-starter led from the long-time producers of the James Bond films, Michael G. Wilson, and Barbara Broccoli. Lively's got dark hair, an icy cold stare and is looking to settle things violently in the movie written by Mark Burnell based on his book of the same name. Directed by Reed Morano, best known for her work on Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale," it also stars Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown.
2. "Birds of Prey" -- Feb. 7
Margot Robbie once again plays Harley Quinn, now broken up with the Joker and teaming up with a crew of badass women like Black Canary (Jurnee Smollet-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), and Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) to stop the villain Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) before he can have Cassandra Cain (Basco) murdered.
3. "Mulan" -- March 27
Director Niki Caro's live action take on Disney's 1998 animated stars Liu Yifei as the legendary Chinese warrior woman who risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest fighters the middle kingdom has ever known.
4. "The New Mutants" -- April 3
Staring Maisie Williams ("Game of Thrones" and Anya Taylor-Joy, this horror film set in the X-universe was filmed two years ago -- but has been in limbo ever since. It was originally supposed to debut in April 2018 but has been delayed over and over again. The film's director confirmed the film was still being tinkered with as of December 2019, but with release scheduled for April, the first trailer is supposedly coming in January.
5. "Black Widow" -- May 1
Set immediately after the events of “Captain America: Civil War”; "Black Widow" follows Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as she reunites with former members of the (former) Soviet assassin squad she grew up with to defeat an even greater threat.
6. "Wonder Woman 1984" -- June 5
Set during the late height of Cold War tensions, the film sees Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) facing two new enemies, including the villain Cheetah (Kristen Wiig), and dealing with the unexpected return of Steve Trevor (Chris Pine). Patty Jenkins returns to direct the sequel to the 2017 box office hit. Watch the spectacular trailer here.
7. "Monster Hunter" -- Sep. 4
Based on the Capcom video game series, "Monster Hunter" stars Milla Jovovich as the leader of a military unit transported to a parallel world dominated by ferocious monsters. In her desperate battle for survival, she teams up with a mysterious man (Tony Jaa) who has found a way to fight back.
8. "The Eternals" -- Nov. 6
Starring Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, and Gemma Chan, Marvel Studios' next heroic team up movie centers on a race of ancient human beings created a million years ago by the cosmic entities known as the Celestials. There's still no trailer, but fans at Comic-Con experience Brazil saw the first public showing of footage. Read about that here.
9. "No Time to Die" - April 2 (UK)/April 8 (U.S.)
Yes, technically this is a James Bond outing fronted by Daniel Craig in his final appearance as James Bond. But we're including it because the story sees 007 teaming up with the first female OO, "Nomi," played by "Captain Marvel's" Lashana Lynch. "So stay in your lane. You get in my way, I will put a bullet in your knee. The one that works," Nomi tells Bond during the recent trailer.
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Move over boys — 2020 looks like it will go down as the year female-fronted superhero movies will dominate the box office
Next year is going to be a big one for super-powered women, with 9 female-led superhero movies hitting theaters in 2020. And if rough estimates pan out, these films could combine to gross over $4 billion at movie theaters worldwide. Not only that, but if 12 months from now "Birds of Prey," "Mulan," "Black Widow, "Wonder Woman 1984," and "Eternals" are among the year's 10 highest grossing films, it will be the first time ever that the list will have gender parity among directors. Read on to see which women will be kicking asses in movie theaters throughout 2020.
