NEW YORK – Critics attacked her and the public did not rate her much better. But despite the turbulence, Mel Gibson’s “Flight Risk” managed to open at No. 1 at the box office with a modest $12 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
On a quiet weekend, even for the typically frigid, movie-loving month of January, first place went to Lionsgate’s thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as a pilot who flies an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) and a fugitive (Topher Grace). through Alaska. But it wasn’t a particularly triumphant result for Gibson’s directorial follow-up to 2016’s “Hacksaw Ridge.” Reviews (21% new on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (a “C” CinemaScore) were terrible.
President Donald Trump recently named Gibson a “special ambassador” to Hollywood, along with Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone.
Heading into the weekend, Hollywood’s attention focused more on the Sundance Film Festival and Thursday’s Oscar nominations, which were postponed twice by wildfires in the Los Angeles region.
The weekend was also a small test of whether the once-common Oscar “hit” that can sometimes follow nominations still exists. Most contenders have already completed most of their theatrical runs and are more likely to see an increase on VOD or streaming.
But the most daring tactic of the weekend was A24 pushing for the wide release of Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” a three-and-a-half-hour epic nominated for 10 Academy Awards. Although some executives initially hailed “The Brutalist,” which screens with an intermission, as “not distributable,” Corbet said, A24 acquired the film from the Venice Film Festival and has done solid business, grossing $6 million in limited release. .
In its wide release, it grossed $2.9 million, a sum that is far from a box office success, but the best weekend yet for “The Brutalist.”
The audience was downright minuscule for another best picture nominee: RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys.” Innovatively filmed almost entirely in first-person point of view, the Amazon MGM Studios release grossed just $340,171 at 540 locations after expanding into 300 theaters.
After one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s lowest weekends in years, no new releases made much of an impact.
Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” a well-reviewed horror film filmed from the perspective of a ghost inside a suburban house, debuted with $3.4 million from 1,750 locations. The film, released by Neon and purchased at Sundance last year, was made for just $2 million.
For the rest, the first places went to the remnants. Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” in its sixth weekend of release, earned $8.7 million to take second place. After a slow start, the Barry Jenkins-directed film has grossed $626.7 million worldwide.
Sony Pictures’ Keke Palmer and SZA-directed comedy “One of Them Days” held up well in its second weekend, falling just 32% with $8 million in ticket sales. In recent years, few comedies have been successful on the big screen, but “One of Them Days” has proven to be an exception.
Estimated ticket sales from Friday to Sunday at theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. Final national figures will be published on Monday.
1. “Risk of flight”, 12 million dollars.
2. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $8.7 million.
3. “One of them”, 8 million dollars.
4. “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” $5.5 million.
5. “Moana 2,” $4.3 million.
6. “Presence”, $3.4 million.
7. “The Wolf Man,” $3.4 million.
8. “A Complete Stranger,” $3.1 million.
9. “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera”, $3 million.
10. “The Brutalist”, $2.9 million.
