If this weekend is any indication of what’s to come, box office domination is a virtual guarantee for two media giants that will soon become one.
Walt Disney Co. announced finalizing a deal to buy most of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Complete integration may take up to two years as the Department of Justice works to approve the deal, but if Disney’s acquisition of Fox had already gone through, the combined take for the company would have been 90 percent of this weekend’s total box office proceeds.
Walt Disney Co. announced finalizing a deal to buy most of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox on Thursday; The two companies combined took in $252.1 million of the $280 million theater-goers spent in the US this weekend, with $220 million of that coming from ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi;’ Daisy Ridley is seen here, as ‘Rey’
That’s roughly $252.1 million of the $280 million theater-goers spent in the US.
Here’s how the numbers break down for Disney and Fox at the movies across America, through Sunday, according to comScore:
Disney’s ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ brought in $220 million, making it the number one draw of the weekend.
‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ led the US box office this weekend with $220 million
The Department of Justice may take up to two years to approve the Disney/Fox deal
20th Century Fox’s ‘Ferdinand’ came in second place with $13.3 million
20th Century Fox had two top-12 features, with ‘Ferdinand’ coming in second place with $13.3 million and ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ bringing in $2.5 million.
Coco, also by Disney, rounded out the top three with $10 million.
Jumping down to seventh place, Disney’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ brought in $3 million.
Fox Searchlight’s ‘The Shape of Water’ rounded out the top grossing movies with ticket sales of $1.7 million, and another of its award-contenders just missed the cut, with ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ bringing in $1.6 million.
‘Star Wars’ blew the rest of the movies out of the water this weekend
Mark Hamil (L) plays ‘Luke Skywalker’ and Johny Boyega (R) plays ‘Finn’ in the Disney film
Ridley gave ‘Star Wars’ fans the female protagonist they were waiting for in last year’s ‘Episode VII: The Force Awakens’
‘Ferdinand’ is a 20th Century Fox Blue Studios animated film about a peaceful bull
Everyone else accounted for the remaining $27.9 million over the weekend.
The best-performing film by a company other than Disney or Fox was Lionsgate’s ‘Wonder,’ bringing in $5.4 million in its fifth week.
Following that, ‘Justice League’ by Warner Bros. brought in $4.2 million and Paramount’s ‘Daddy’s Home 2’ came up with $3.8 million.
A24 had two of its films in the top 10 list, with ‘The Disaster Artist’ grossing $2.6 million, and ‘Lady Bird’ bringing up the rear at tenth with $2.1 million in sales.
Disney and Fox have slated 26 films to premier in 2018, across Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disney animation, Blue Studios, 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000 and Fox Searchlight, according to Deadline Hollywood.
Disney also owns ABC and ESPN, and has stakes in Hulu, which will increase post-merger as 21st Century Fox owns part of Hulu, as well.
‘Poe Dameron’ is played by Oscar Isaac in ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’