On a quieter weekend at the box office with Sundance underway and Oscar nominations coming up this Tuesday, “The Post” continued to lead all awards contenders currently in theaters with $12.1 million, bringing its total to $45 million.
“Darkest Hour,” meanwhile, continues to perform exceptionally well in limited release, adding $3 million this weekend from 1,341 screens to bring its total to $41 million. This week, the Churchill film will pass the $42.8 million made by “The Big Sick” to become 2017’s highest grossing film in limited release.
Focus Features also expanded their other contender, “Phantom Thread,” to 896 screens this weekend, adding $3.3 million to bring its total to $6.1 million. Also expanding this weekend is Sony Pictures Classics’ “Call Me by Your Name,” which grew to 815 screens in its ninth weekend and added $1.5 million to bring its total to $9.2 million.
Fox Searchlight’s contenders, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Shape of Water,” crossed the $30 million milestone this weekend, as “Three Billboards” added $2 million for a $32 million total while “Water” added $2.2 million for a $30 million total. The milestones come as Fox Searchlight returns to Sundance trying to find another big hit for 2018 after its last two big Park City buys, “Birth of a Nation” and “Patti Cake$,” bombed at the indie box office. Fortunately, the awards season has been good for Searchlight so far, as the studio added the top prize at the Producers Guild Awards for “Shape of Water” along with the combined five Golden Globes the studio took home two weeks ago.
“Lady Bird” will join “Darkest Hour” and “The Post” in the $40 million club this week, as the film posted a seven-digit weekend total for the tenth time in its 12-weekend run with $1.3 million from 675 screens, bringing its total to $39.1 million. NEON/30WEST’s “I, Tonya” is also performing well on 799 screens, adding $3 million to bring its total to $14.6 million.
Finally, in new releases, GKIDS released the anime fantasy “Mary and the Witch’s Flower,” Studio Ponoc’s debut feature film based on the British children’s novel “The Little Broomstick” by Mary Stewart. The film was placed in 571 screens on Thursday night for a one-night engagement with Fathom Events, and then screened in 161 screens for the rest of the weekend, giving it a $1.5 million opening total. The film has an 86 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.