"Box Office Battle" is The Fly's weekly roundup of what movies topped the weekend's box office.
WEEKEND WINNER: Lionsgate's (LGF.A, LGF.B) World War II film "Midway," directed by Roland Emmerich, was predicted to finish in fourth place this weekend, with a projected gross of around $13M. However, a combination of "Midway" overperforming, with an estimated weekend gross of $17.5M, and both AT&T (T) subsidiary Warner Bros. horror film "Doctor Sleep" and Comcast (CMCSA, CMCSK) subsidiary Universal Pictures' romantic comedy "Last Christmas" underperforming, gave the top spot to the World War II drama. The Veteran's Day holiday is expected to give "Midway" a further boost, with Box Office Mojo predicting a four-day weekend gross of over $20M.
BOX OFFICE RUNNERS-UP: "Doctor Sleep" was expected to deliver $25M+ this weekend, but disappointed majorly, finishing with an estimated $14.1M from 3,855 locations. On a brighter note, Viacom (VIA, VIAB) subsidiary Paramount's family comedy "Playing with Fire," starring John Cena, outperformed expectations, finishing in third place with an estimated $12.8M domestic gross at 3,125 theaters. "Last Christmas" finished in fourth place, at the lower end of its forecast range.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:
- Midway - $17.5M
- Doctor Sleep - $14.1M
- Playing with Fire - $12.8M
- Last Christmas - $11.6M
- Terminator: Dark Fate - $10.8M
Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Disney (DIS), Fox Corp (FOX, FOXA), and Sony (SNE).
