Disney's 'Ralph' to Threepeat Over Slow Box Office Weekend

With no new wide releases this weekend, outside of the re-release of Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, we're looking at what might be the lowest grossing weekend of the year so far. The top of the box office should, once again, be a near mirror image of the prior weekend with Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet leading the charge for a third weekend in a row while films such as Focus's Mary Queen of Scots and Neon's Vox Lux begin their limited release roll-outs.

At the top of the box office, Disney Animation's Ralph Breaks the Internet is looking at a third weekend at #1, this time driving toward a $16 million three-day for a domestic cume topping $140 million by the end of the weekend.

Animation should also take second place in Universal and Illumination's The Grinch, which topped $200 million last weekend and will now easily pass 2012's The Lorax after this weekend. We're anticipating a performance around $12.5 million for a domestic cume over $220 million come end of day Sunday.

Also, just like last weekend, look for MGM's Creed II to land in third place with $11 million or so as its domestic cume inches ever-so-close to $100 million after just 19 days in release, almost half the time it took the first film to reach that mark.

Elsewhere, Universal's Green Book will add a few theaters this weekend after enjoying the smallest drop in the top ten last weekend and five Golden Globe nominations this morning. As a result we're expecting it to climb a couple notches on the chart this weekend, finishing in seventh position with around $3 million or so, pushing it's domestic cume near $19 million after 24 days in release.

Another holdover to watch is the continued, slow rollout of The Favourite, which has delivered the largest per theater average among all films in release over the past two weekends and also received five Golden Globe nominations this morning. This weekend it expands to 90 locations (+56) before it reaches a much wider audience next weekend where it's expected to top 525 locations nationwide.

Additionally, Universal is re-releasing Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List, featuring digitally remastered picture and sound, including in 4K, Dolby Cinema and Dolby Atmos presentations. The film will play in 1,181 locations, but the larger focus are the numerous free educational screenings of the film in select major markets in North America for nearly 10,000 high-school educators and their students in collaboration with the USC Shoah Foundation.

Among limited releases, IFC will release Swimming with Men into 34 theaters; Neon will debut Vox Lux starring Natalie Portman into six theaters; Focus will open Mary Queen of Scots with Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie in four theaters; and Roadside will release the Julia Roberts drama Ben is Back in four theaters.

This weekend's forecast is directly below. This post will be updated on Friday morning with Thursday night preview results followed by Friday estimates on Saturday morning, and a complete weekend recap on Sunday morning.

1. Ralph Breaks the Internet (3,795 theaters) - $15.7 M
2. Dr. Seuss' The Grinch (3,829 theaters) - $12.6 M
3. Creed II (3,752 theaters) - $10.8 M
4. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (3,451 theaters) - $6.1 M
5. Bohemian Rhapsody (2,953 theaters) - $6.1 M
6. Instant Family (3,426 theaters) - $5.4 M
7. Green Book (1,181 theaters) - $3.1 M
8. The Possession of Hannah Grace (2,298 theaters) - $3.1 M
9. Widows (2,161 theaters) - $2.7 M
10. Robin Hood (2,573 theaters) - $2.5 M