(Bloomberg) -- “1917,” the World War I epic and surprise winner of the Golden Globe award for best drama, led the North American box office after expanding to more theaters and benefiting from the new buzz surrounding the picture.
- “1917” brought in $36.5 million this weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, researcher Comscore Inc. estimated Sunday, knocking “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” from its No. 1 spot. It also topped Paramount Pictures' “Like a Boss,” “Just Mercy” from Warner Bros., and “Underwater” from Disney's Fox studio. Analysts had expected as much as $36 million for “1917,” a Universal Pictures release.
Key Insights
- Directed by Sam Mendes, who also won a Golden Globe for the picture, “1917” has emerged a serious Oscar contender following its wins at the Golden Globes. It's crafted to look as though it's shot in a single continuous scene, so called one-shot cinematography, that's designed to boost the realism. It got an 89% favorable rating at Rotten Tomatoes, which aggregates reviews.
- R-rated “Like a Boss” landed in fourth place with sales of $10 million. The film stars Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish as friends who start a beauty company together. Box Office Pro was forecasting sales of $12.8 million for the movie's U.S. debut. Just 23% of critics recommended the movie.
- “Just Mercy,” which also expanded to more theaters, generated $10 million as well, compared with estimates of $8.4 million to $9.5 million. Michael B. Jordan stars as a famed civil rights attorney working with a local advocate, played by Brie Larson, to free a wrongly condemned man. Critics gave it an 82% positive rating.
- The horror thriller “Underwater,” starring Kristen Stewart, brought in $7 million to place seventh, beating forecasts of $6 million to $6.5 million. Slightly over half of critics recommended the movie.
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To contact the reporter on this story: Hailey Waller in New York at hwaller@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Ludden at jludden@bloomberg.net, Rob Golum, Kevin Miller
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