THE GREATEST SHOWMAN : Box Office

[jo]

[jo]

Revised Estimate for cumulative period as of March 18, 2018, per BOM --

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $169,744,618 (42.6%)
Foreign: $229,073,109 (57.4%)

Worldwide: $398,817,727

Based on the above estimates -- it looks like that :

*The worldwide figures will cross over to $ 400 million sooner and surer than initially expected! Figures are short by $ 1.183 million to reach that threshold. This may take maybe up to Monday-Tuesday ( March 19/20) to achieve!

*Domestic box office is still short by $ 943 million to overtake CHICAGO as the 3rd largest-grossing live-action movie musical of all time! This may take the whole week ( or at least up to Tursday-Friday/March 20-21) to accomplish)

If the soundtrack album keeps its # 1 ranking in the UK, that will mean tieing the Adele album for top spot in the last 30 years.


Many milestones to accomplish this week!

Break a leg, The Greatest Showman

[jo]

FINAL figures, for cumulative period as of March 18, 2018 --

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $169,703,817 (42.5%)
Foreign: $229,414,675 (57.5%)

Worldwide: $399,118,492

*Needed to surpass CHICAGO : $ 984 thousand
*Needed to reach $ 400 million worldwide : $ 882 thousand



Hope we get updated/confirmed news if THE GREATEST SHOWMAN has indeed crossed the $400 million threshold on March 19,2018, a day before it is released on a DIGITAL format...or we need to wait for that landmark on March 20 itself!

[jo]

To be sure that this NYTimes interview with Hugh Jackman, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul is not missed -- on why the box office rebounded after the disappointing first week returns) is not missed --

On a bigger screen, with presumably better audio ?

www.facebook.com/nytimes/videos/vl.1367698343355668/10151522745559999/?type=1

[jo]

I am also posting my reactions ( originally on the Fan Reactions Page) to the interview on this page --

Mar 19, 2018 21:59:40 GMT -5 jo said:

My reactions to this interview --

*I have always felt that the reason why the movie became a hit is because :
-it brought us joy ... in these weary times
-it was a more pleasurable way of telling us a story compared to non-musical movies
-to many people, there was an emotional connection, not just through the music and its lyrics, but also the presence of powerful messages embedded in the storytelling ( family values, self-worth, drive and personal ambition, camaraderie, etc)
-it spoke to us in a contemporary tone!
-the story was told by exceptional triple-threat performances by the very strong and goodlooking cast ( goodlooking was a bonus )
-the creative values were wonderful to behold ( the choreography, the cinematography esp the transitions, the color palette, the costumes in a period piece, the sound design and editing esp considering that this is a musical, etc)
-and the overall cinematic vision of this well-made movie musical, a movie that one can watch again and again!



*I am glad that Stephanie Goodman decided to revisit the movie's success story this second time ( after her initial attempt to find out the reason for this cultural phenomenon by inviting readers's comments)...this by talking to the main proponents of the film project ( Too bad Michael Gracey wasn't around as he can probably provide more insights on the cinematic vision of this movie).

www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/movies/why-do-you-love-the-greatest-showman.html

Stephanie gave a negative opinion of the movie initially...then wasn't dissuaded from that view after seeing it a second time ( with only 10 viewers, which she said did not give her a positive attitude towards it). I think her main issue was the storyline and the music, which she felt was underwhelming. Maybe what she should do, to understand how musical theatre fully works ( and this was how The Greatest Showman score was developed) is to see how the score is intimately and intricately linked with the plot and character development. Sometimes the melody distracts us from the full intent of the lyrics, so maybe she should print that out and study it as they impact on the plot and characterizations. That is how a musical should work ( unlike some movies where a song or two is thrown in out of the blue sometimes as more of a pleasurable distraction than being part of the whole storytelling).

She mentioned receiving a respectful tweet from Hugh after she expressed her initial negative opinion about the movie and followed it with a request for readers's opinions...did that win her over to some extent? Sometimes, negative reactions are given when one's work is written about in a negative way, so maybe it was refreshing to get a reaction that she received via that twitter message. I do remember that but can't quote the exact words.


*Even before Hugh said it --

I also thought the experience with THE BOY FROM OZ preceded this extraordinary phenomenon of audience reactions to THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. We got named OZ-A-LOTS because we came back over and over to see the stage musical ( I saw it 13 times on Broadway) and 4 times in Sydney), even if I do live halfway across the world from NYC and above the equator from Australia.

Maybe the film fans can now be called SHOW-A-LOTS, too


But seriously, it was the connection that was established by Hugh himself in THE BOY FROM OZ, a major reason of which were the BICOASTAL scenes, that worked for the success of the musical biopic. Hugh established such a strong connection with his audiences so much so that the closing performance merited its own review! And hey, the reviews ( including NYT's Brantley calling it a "bathetic" musical, save for his high praise of Hugh Jackman) were so bad that people began predicting an early funeral for the stage show. But in the end, TBFO earned a small profit...and turned Hugh Jackman into the biggest star on Broadway!

www.nytimes.com/2003/10/17/movies/theater-review-flash-of-70-s-sequins.html

observer.com/2004/09/farewell-hugh-and-caroline-closingnight-hysteria-and-tears/

The same story goes for THE GREATEST SHOWMAN -- the negativity in the film reviews caused that bad opening week box office returns. I also think personally that the same negativity caused the undeserved non-recognition of the movie with the awards community! That was totally unfair!


*Hugh confirms that there are a lot of talks about a possible stage adaptation! I wonder if that is coming sooner than we think?


*Have you noticed that this trio of talented artists ( Hugh, Justin and Benj) are very humble but forthright in expressing their views. It seems that what drives them to their well-earned success is both artistic pride and a strong desire to connect with the audiences. They are also very down-to-earth and likable celebrities!


Jo

[jo]

Re the international box office, per Deadline --

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Twentieth Century Fox
Closing in on $400M worldwide, Fox’s Hugh Jackman singalong earned $3.8M in 25 markets this session. The offshore total is now $229.4M for $399.1M global. Japan is swinging with a great dip of just 22% for a $29.6M cume to date. The UK is now at $53.2M and Australia has cumed $25.6M.

[jo]

As of Tuesday, March 20, 2018, per Box Office Mojo --

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $170,002,139(42.5%)
Foreign: $229,977,467 (57.5%)

Worldwide: $399,979,606

Needed to surpass CHICAGO on the domestic side ( $ 170,687) : $ 686 thousand

Needed to reach $ 400 million worldwide : $ 20,394


Hopefully, the movie will overtake CHICAGO on the domestic side by the end of this week...or even before the week ends!
Worldwide gross will cross $ 400 million most likely on March 21 ( probably in Australia/New Zealand (if it is still open there) and/or in Japan ( they are closest to the international date line)

[jo]

Scott Mendelson is already anticipating the crossover to $ 400 million worldwide and the overtaking of CHICAGO's box office number --

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/03/22/box-office-hugh-jackmans-greatest-showman-has-topped-400-million/#5f3e3b3aae7a

He says Box Office Mojo has not yet reported it, but he feels confident that those numbers will be forthcoming or even actually reached ( for the $ 400 million crossover).

Mr. Mendelson -- thanks for reversing your original impression that this movie was simply for the Tin-Tin crowd ( they did fall in love with the scores). In fairness, he also thought it is family friendly! What was not foreseen was that it would appeal across gender and also across borders! And the phenomenon of repeat/multi-viewings. What was probably the most unexpected was the runaway success of the musical score and the soundtrack album!

[jo]

Interesting discussions re the initial expectations at the box office, including the change in release dates, and eventual experience --

Hugh said that test screenings results before the release of the movie were very high ( something like 95%)).

[jo]

$400 million worldwide DONE!!

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $170,127,872 (42.5%)
Foreign: $229,977,467 (57.5%)

Worldwide: $400,105,339

[jo]

From another source -- early Friday estimates :

That's $ 238 thousand to go to beat CHICAGO!

Can The Greatest Showman beat it on Saturday...or do we have to wait till Sunday


EDIT:

Confirmed by BoxOfficeMojo --

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $170,448,688 (42.6%)
Foreign: $229,977,467 (57.4%)

Worldwide: $400,426,155

[jo]

Maybe FOX should rethink its decision to reduce screen count to only 478 in USA/Canada? It is probably in anticipation of the release of the movie on BluRay/DVD...but some people may want to see it on the big screen in addition to the keepsake home video?

[jo]

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN is now the 3rd largest-grossing live action musical on the domestic side!


Per Box Office Mojo, Estimate as of March 25, 2018!

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $170,928,688(42.0%)
Foreign: $236,462,632 (58.0%)

Worldwide: $407,391,320

EDIT: FINAL figures as of March 25

Total Lifetime Grosses
Domestic: $170,945,091(42.0%)
Foreign: $236,271,216 (58.0%)

Worldwide: $407,216,307

[jo]

Per Box Office Mojo --

www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=musical.htm

Musical
1974-Present
Live action only.


Rank/Title (click to view)/Studio/Lifetime Gross / Theaters/Opening / Theaters/Date

1
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
BV
$504,014,165
4,210
$174,750,616
4,210
3/17/17


2
Grease
Par.
$188,755,690
862
$8,941,717
862
6/16/78


3
The Greatest Showman
Fox
$170,945,091
3,342
$8,805,843
3,006
12/20/17


4
Chicago
Mira.
$170,687,518
2,701
$2,074,929
77
12/27/02


5
La La Land
LG/S
$151,101,803
3,236
$881,104
5
12/9/16


6
Les Miserables (2012)
Uni.
$148,809,770
2,927
$27,281,735
2,814
12/25/12


7
Mamma Mia!
Uni.
$144,130,063
3,194
$27,751,240
2,976
7/18/08


8
Into the Woods
BV
$128,002,372
2,833
$31,051,923
2,440
12/25/14


9
Enchanted
BV
$127,807,262
3,730
$34,440,317
3,730
11/21/07


10
Hairspray (2007)
NL
$118,871,849
3,121
$27,476,745
3,121
7/20/07

[jo]

Another confirmatory news --

From Deadline.com :

Shoutout this morning to Fox’s The Greatest Showman, which is no clown at the B.O. with a $170.9M total. The Hugh Jackman pic passes Chicago this weekend ($170.6M) to become the third highest-grossing musical at the box office after Beauty and the Beast ($504M) and Grease ($188.7M).

[mamaleh]

Whoo-hoo. Way to go! The little movie musical that could.

Ellen

[jo]

Or if you can call a 7 1/2 year old child of Jackman's dreams --


"the mouse that roared!"

[jo]

Are screenings on board planes or cruise ships counted ( presumably these are paid-for screenings -- or are they treated like sales to cable TV or Netflix?) as part of box office?

Maybe they can also use this as an opportunity to sell home video and soundtrack albums?

[jo]

Some members of the movie press/critics are noting the success of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN --

I think it is good for them to analyze what factors guided the movie to its extraordinary appeal with audiences -- maybe they should include how those factors worked in their future reviews or coverage?

[jo]

From Deadline, as of week ending March 25 --

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Twentieth Century Fox
Fox/Chernin’s The Greatest Showman whistled a $3M tune this session, its 13th, to lift the international cume to $236.5M. Worldwide, the Hugh Jackman-starrer has grossed $407.3M. Offshore, it played in 19 markets and on 1,088 screens this weekend. The UK has now put $54.9M under the big top to become Fox’s 5th biggest title of all time in the market, surpassing Deadpool. Japan is at $34.5M off a slight 16% drop.

[jo]

We don't know how long the theatrical run will be around.

But on March 26, 2018, we see THE GREATEST SHOWMAN still recording $ 100,000 in less than 500 screens!


www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2018-03-26&p=.htm


Maybe the domestic receipts will settle down in the low to mid-170's. assuming that the run will end when the home videos ( BluRay/DVD) are released ? Of course we don't know what's on FOX's mind?

Btw, on March 26, The Greatest Showman ( 478 screens) was a few dollars ahead of its twin movie release JUMANJI ( 1022 screens)


Jo

[israruth]

I went to see The Greatest Showman again yesterday at the only local theatre still showing the movie and the staff said that tomorrow was its last day. Presumably they are making screens available for the new Easter weekend offerings. Still, it has had a great run!

[jo]

www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2018-03-27&p=.htm

SHOWMAN continues to lead JUMANJI with less than half the screen count

[jo]

The Greatest Showman continues its marvelous run in the UK!

www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/29/circus-freak-why-the-greatest-showman-is-still-going-on-and-on-at-the-box-office


Hey, it does not end with the cinema showings with sing-alongs.

Come summer, there will be open-air screenings which will also be sing-along festivals for its fans!


Jo

[israruth]

There is an excellent article in Deadline.com dated March 29 which discusses the financial prospects even after the theatrical run finishes.