Obviously, this box office weekend belong to “Star Wars,” accounting for a whopping 80 percent of all revenue. But despite that, several Oscar contenders continued to put up solid numbers at the indie box office.
NEON/30WEST’s “I, Tonya” posted a strong second weekend on five screens, making $176,189 for a per screen average of $35,238 — second only to the $52,000 posted by “Star Wars” — bringing its total to $553,554. The film will expand in January after earning three Golden Globe nominations for Best Musical or Comedy, Best Actress for Margot Robbie, and Best Supporting Actress for Allison Janney.
Meanwhile, A24’s “The Disaster Artist” added $2.6 million in its third weekend from 1,010 screens to bring its total to $12.9 million. Fox Searchlight’s “The Shape of Water” will go wide next weekend, but this weekend it added a very solid $1.73 million from 158 locations to bring its total to $3.6 million after three weekends. It has received six Golden Globe nominations, including Best Drama, Best Directing and Screenplay for Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, and acting nominations for Sally Hawkins, Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer.
A24’s “Lady Bird,” which earned four Golden Globe noms, added $2.1 million in its seventh weekend to bring its total to $26 million. It was nominated for Best Comedy, Best Screenplay for Greta Gerwig, and acting nominations for its mom/daughter duo Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf. Sony Pictures Classics’ “Call Me by Your Name” continues to perform well after expanding to just 30 theaters, making $492,000 to bring its total to $2 million. It scored three Golden Globe nominations, including a Best Actor nod for Timothee Chalamet.
Finally, Focus Features’ “Darkest Hour,” which is contending for Best Actor for Gary Oldman, added $850,000 from 84 screens to bring its total to $2.3 million, while Bleecker Street’s Charles Dickens period piece “The Man Who Invented Christmas” made $263,000 from 319 screens to bring its total to $5 million.