LOS ANGELES -- Disney's Star Wars: Episode IX -- 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, Columbia'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% drop) for a cumulative $60 million.
The only new movie to arrive in wide release over the weekend was The Grudge (Columbia), a low-budget effort to squeeze a fourth film out of this faded horror franchise. In fourth place, it collected about $11.3 million, according to Comscore. Ticket buyers gave the R-rated movie a rare F grade in CinemaScore exit polls.
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% rotten score on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. 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 II 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% 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.
And though it was overlooked by the Golden Globes, the Safdie brothers' Uncut Gems, starring Adam Sandler, is becoming one of A24's biggest box-office successes. At No. 8, it grossed $7.8 million in its fourth and widest weekend of release, bringing its domestic overall total to $36.8 million.
The stronger-than-expected performance of Uncut Gems has been particularly surprising, analysts said, because it polarized audiences: Critics raved, but ticket buyers gave Sandler's film a C-plus grade in CinemaScore exit polls (the same grade as the much-maligned Cats). Paul Dergarabedian, a senior Comscore analyst, said ticket sales for Uncut Gems were "a testament to the power of an original and exhilarating movie with an unexpected performance from an iconic comedy star."
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.
After a box office year that was down 4% from 2018, Hollywood began 2020 on the upswing. Ticket sales were up 7.2% from the same weekend last year, according to data firm Comscore.
MovieStyle on 01/10/2020