After weeks of new releases either losing outright to or just barely beatingJumanji: Welcome to the Jungleat the domesticbox office, this weekend saw three new releases jump headfirst into the top five with one seemingly destined for first place by the end of Sunday. That would beFifty Shades Freed, the largely ludicrous third film in the Fifty Shades trilogy, which looks to have $18.5 million in the till at this point over another new release,Peter Rabbit, which is trailing in second place with $5.7 million.
To be clear, neither of these movies are good or even particularly fascinating in their failures.Fifty Shades Freedis a movie obsessed with sex that seems to have exactly no idea how people talk about sex or physically seduce and pleasure one another, not unlike its similarly disposable predecessor. To say that the BDSM community deserves better representation on screen would be the understatement of the week. As forPeter Rabbit, the movie feels like an unthinking, rushed attempt to meld the comic and thematic DNA ofWes Anderson’s sublimeFantastic Mr. FoxandPeter Lord&Nick Park’s excellentChicken Run, despite a strong performance fromDomnhall Gleesonas the grumpy farmer.
Ironically yet expectedly, both have been more favorably received thanClint Eastwood’sThe 15:17 to Paris, which is currently holding at third with $3.7 million. Per usual, a great deal of critics have essentially predetermined that Eastwood’s politics are more important to harp on than the political substance of his movie, to the point that a few truly moronic writers have labeled it as an argument for the travel ban. And while Eastwood’s latest is not quite as daring asSullyor as unrelentingly critical of military service asAmerican Sniper, it’s easily the best and most interesting movie currently in the top five.
By the end of the weekend, Eastwood’s film might fall toJumanji, which is currently in fourth with $2.2 million but there seems to be distance enough betweenThe 15:17 to ParisandThe Greatest Showman, which is in fifth with $1.6 million, to ensure that it won’t land at the bottom. This will likely be the only weekend that any of these movies have to make their money, however, as next weekend bringsBlack Pantherand its juggernaut-like estimated opening weekend gross.
Here’s your top five at the box office for Friday:
Friday Domestic BO
Total Domestic BO
1. ‘Fifty Shades Freed’
$18,521,000
2. ’Peter Rabbit’
$5,725,000
- ‘The 15:17 to Paris’
$3,730,000
- ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’
$2,205,000
$358,036,871
5. ‘The Greatest Showman’
$1,600,000
$141,735,870
