‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ Tops Last Weekend of 2019

(Bloomberg) -- “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” led the box office again -- marking the final weekend of a great year for Walt Disney Co., the film’s owner, but a mediocre 2019 for pretty much everyone else.

• “The Rise of Skywalker” brought in $72.4 million this weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, researcher Comscore Inc. said Monday, easily outdrawing two new movies -- Sony Corp.‘s “Little Women” and “Spies in Disguise,” from Disney’s Fox studio. Analysts had expected as much as $100 million for the “Star Wars” feature. The gross was down 59% from last week, Comscore said.

Key Insights

• With the exception of Disney, which set global records with its slate of live-action and animated movies, the year was lackluster for most of Hollywood’s film companies. The industry closed out the weekend with 2019 ticket sales in the U.S. down 4.3% from a year ago and most observers expecting 2020 to be a challenge as well.

• Two new films opened in wide release this weekend. “Little Women,” an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s tale of four sisters coming of age in the aftermath of the Civil War, opened in fourth place with sales of $16.8 million. Box Office Pro was projecting $18 million.
• “Spies in Disguise,” an animated film featuring the voices of Rachel Brosnahan, Will Smith and Reba McEntire, took in $13.4 million to land in fifth place. Box Office Mojo was forecasting $11 million.
• A24’s “Uncut Gems,” starring Adam Sandler as a jewelry dealer in New York’s Diamond District, expanded to more theaters and delivered $9.6 million in sales to land in seventh place. That fell in line with forecasts of $8.5 million to $10 million this weekend.

Get More

• See the weekend release schedule.
• See Box Office Pro’s long-range forecast.

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, Kevin Miller

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