Super Bowl weekend is usually a dismal box office weekend, even in normal times. And in the pandemic, when everything is dismal, this seemed like a particularly awful frame. The serial killer drama The Little Things fell 55% from last weekend to end up with $2.1 million. That would be a normal drop under normal circumstances, but it's steep during the pandemic. Things still won the weekend, though, and its ten-day gross is now $7.8 million. It seems likely to pass the final gross of Roman J. Israel, Esq., which despite Denzel Washington's Oscar nomination, is by far his lowest-grossing film since the early 90s, topping out just under $12 million. However, it will be lucky to hit the $16 million his 1995 box office disappointment Devil in a Blue Dress made.
More troubling for WB is that this is the second consecutive title to debut simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max to have a solid opening, and then a big drop. Upcoming titles Judas and the Black Messiah and Tom and Jerry will let us see if that was just something affecting Things and Wonder Woman 1984, or if it's a trend.
Coming close to recapturing the box office crown was The Croods: A New Age, spending it's 11th weekend in the Top 3. By comparison, Frozen only spent 8 weeks in the Top 3. Indeed, you have to go back to Titanic to find a streak that long. The Croods made $1.7 million for a total gross of $45.9 million. With the aforementioned Tom and Jerry arriving on February 26 and Raya and the Last Dragon coming a week later, that will likely end The Croods's stranglehold on family audiences. But it has two more weekends before the cat and mouse arrive.
The Marksman and Wonder Woman 1984 switch places, with Marksman finishing just below $1 million, and Wonder Woman finishing just above $0.9 million. Marksman is now at $9.1 million, while Wonder Woman passes $40 million, going to $40.3 million.
Coming in 5-7 are Christmas releases Monster Hunter, News of the World, and Promising Young Woman, whose grosses are now up to $11.9 million, $10.9 million, and $4.7 million, respectively.
Coming in 8th, with the best per-screen in the Top Ten, is the re-release of 2001's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Peter Jackson's beloved, epic adaption of the first book of the trilogy is the only movie in the Top 10 to break $1,000 per screen. It also finally cleaved Promising Young Woman from Fatale, which came in 9th, and has now grossed $5.8 million.
In tenth is The War With Grandpa, which has now tied My Big Fat Greek Wedding for most consecutive weeks in the Top Ten since the turn of the century. If it's able to hang around for one more weekend, it will both break the consecutive weekend record and tie Greek Wedding for most weeks overall in the top ten since the turn. Grandpa's gross is up to $19.8 million.
The weekend after the Super Bowl usually sees the first new blockbuster titles of the new year, and this weekend has the pandemic equivalent. Opening wide is Oscar contender Judah and the Black Messiah, starring Daniel Kaluuya as Fred Hampton, the fiery young leader of the Chicago branch of the Black Panthers, and his Get Out co-star Lakeith Stanfield as the FBI informant who infiltrates the group. As noted above, it will also debut on HBO Max. Countering is Land, starring Robin Wright (who also directed) as a woman who, after a tragedy, retreats to a remote cabin in the wilderness. It is exclusive to theaters. Also opening somewhat wide this weekend are the other two entries in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Chinese fantasy A Writer's Odyssey. Will Judas be able to hit the top spot? We'll find out next weekend.
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