Box Office: 'Jumanji' Reigns Over MLK Weekend With $35.4 Million

As it expanded nationwide, 'The Post' ranked second with $23.4 million.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle maintained the top spot at the domestic box office for the second weekend in a row, corralling an estimated $35.4 million as the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend unfolded.

Steven Spielberg’s The Post posted solid numbers as it expanded nationwide into 2,819 theaters, while three other new nationwide openings had a tougher time making a mark.

And although Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which ranked fifth for the four-day weekend, is starting to wind down — it posted $15.3 million domestically for the holiday as it took another $19 million from 53 territories — with a cumulative worldwide haul of $1.269 billion, it has now surpassed both Disney’s own Beauty and the Beast ($1.264 billion) and Universal’s Fate of the Furious ($1.236 billion) to become the top global release of 2017 and the 10th top global release of all time.

Sony’s Jumanji, the comedy-adventure directed by Jake Kasdan and starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan as the adult avatars of a magical game, took in $28.2 million for the three days before climbing to $35.4 million for the four-day holiday frame, which would bring its domestic cume to $291.6 million as it closes in on the $300 million mark.

Jumanji also was the weekend's top international grosser, grossing $81 million from 94 territories, as its worldwide gross climbed to nearly $675 million.

The Post, which recounts how Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham (Meryl Streep) and editor Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) joined forces to defy the government and publish the Pentagon Papers, grossed $19.3 million for the three days as it headed to a four-day gross of an estimated $23.4 million. Since Fox opened the film on Dec. 22 in just a handful of theaters, the $50 million pic, from Amblin Entertainment and Participant Media, had collected $4.2 million in its limited release.

The politically charged, adult-skewing movie, which received an A CinemaScore, attracted an older audience (66 percent at 35 years old or above) as well as more females than males (55 percent versus 45 percent), and did best in the Northeast, West and Midwest, meeting with resistance only in the southern central portion of the country, which could allow it to settle in for an extended run.

Of the weekend’s three new wide releases, Lionsgate's The Commuter showed the most traction, with a third-place showing for the frame as it took in $13.7 million for the three days and a four-day total of $16.4 million. Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows), the PG-13-rated action movie stars Liam Neeson as a businessman who gets caught up in a frenzied criminal conspiracy when he meets a stranger (Vera Farmiga) on a train. It received a B CinemaScore from an audience that was 54 percent male and 70 percent age 30 or older.

The first entry in a new, long-term partnership between Lionsgate and StudioCanal, The Commuter opened in 2,892 locations domestically, including select Imax theaters. Internationally, where the pic is beginning its rollout, it racked up a strong opening in Germany, where it ranked No. 2 and took in $2.3 million, and notched a No. 1 opening in The Netherlands, where it grossed another $624,000. In all, the movie collected $6.2 million from 14 territories, bringing its worldwide figure to more than $20 million.

Given the fact that it was met with an A CinemaScore and has received enthusiastic reviews, resulting in a 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, Paddington 2, which had to compete with Jumanji for the family crowd, got off to a disappointing start for Warner Bros. Ranking sixth for the holiday weekend, it attracted just $10.9 million for the three days, then edging up to $15 million for the four days. The film — which Warners bought from the beleaguered Weinstein Co. and producer StudioCanal — again centers on the plucky Peruvian bear (voiced by Ben Whishaw) as he and the Brown family team to unmask a thief. The animated/live-action sequel, based on Michael Bond's children’s book series that launched in 1958, also stars Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Jim Broadbent, Peter Capaldi, Hugh Grant and Brendan Gleeson.

Paul King returned to direct the movie, which follows in the wake of the 2015 original, which opened to $25.5 million domestically and collected $268 million during its theatrical run. The new film has already debuted abroad, where it grossed nearly $140 million, which translates to a worldwide total of more than $150 million.

Sony’s Proud Mary, starring Taraji P. Henson as an assassin whose life is altered when she becomes involved with a young boy, debuted in eighth place as it took in $12 million for the four days after pulling in $9.9 million over the three days. Directed by Babak Najafi (London Has Fallen), the R-rated action pic was greeted with a B-plus CinemaScore as it bowed in 2,125 locations.

Among the other holdovers, Universal's horror pic Insidious: The Last Key dropped by 58 percent from its opening weekend over its first three days, when it grossed , grossing $12.5 million. For the four-day weekend, it took in $14.6 million, placing seventh for the frame as its domestic tally rose to $50.8 million. Internationally, it ranked third for the three days as it picked up an additional $17.7 million, bringing its worldwide total to more than $95 million.

In fourth place, Fox's The Greatest Showman claimed an additional $12.5 million for the three days. The film is looking at an estimated $15.6 million for the four-day frame, which would bring its domestic haul to $98.4 million as it closes in on the $100 million mark. It ranked fourth internationally for the three-day weekend, picking up $15.3 million abroad, bringing its worldwide total to $194.7 million.

Universal's Pitch Perfect 3 ranked ninth for the holiday weekend with $7.3 million as its domestic take rose to $96.3 million.

In tenth place, Focus' Winston Churchill drama Darkest Hour, which is currently playing in 1,693 theaters, took in $4.5 million for the weekend and $5.6 million for the four days, bringing its domestic total to $36.8 million. On the international front, the movie opened in 16 markets over the weekend, including the U.K. and Ireland, where it claimed the top spot, taking in $5.9 million. Internationally, Darkest Hour has collected $19 million to date, bringing its worldwide total to more than $55 million.

STX's Molly's Game, in its third weekend, finished just outside the top 10 in 12th place with $4.8 million, bringing its domestic tally to $21.6 million. Overseas, it took in $3.4 million for the weekend, bringing its international cume to $13.7 million.

Among more specialized titles, I, Tonya from Neon/30 West, posted a $4.2 million holiday weekend from 517 locations as its domestic take rose to $10.9 million.

Fox Searchlight's The Shape of Water drew $3.6 million from 723 locations for the four days, bringing its domestic total to $27.3 million. It also opened in Mexico, the homeland of its director Guillermo del Toro, where it claimed the top spot and nearly $3.3 million.

The same distributor's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is expanding into more theaters once again, moving into 1,022 locations, picked up $3.2 million, bringing its domestic total to $29.4 million.

A24's Lady Bird gathered $2 million in 652 theaters as its tally rose to $37.2 million, while The Disaster Artist, from the same distributor, attracted just over $500,000 in 371 theaters to bring its total to $20.4 million.

Currently playing in 174 locations, Sony Pictures Classics' Call Me by Your Name took in $942,000, with its domestic total now standing at $7.4 million.