'Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle' remains top in box office

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Sony's action adventure comedy film "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" remained on top of North American's box office, dominating the Martin Luther King holiday weekend with an estimated 27.03 million US dollars through Sunday.

It is "a solid Martin Luther King Weekend that should generate around 152 million US dollars for the 3-day and a projected 4-day total of 187 to 190 million US dollars," wrote movie analyst Paul Dergarabedian at comScore in an email to Xinhua.

"Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" has brought in a massive 283.17 million US dollars in total in North American theaters to date since opening on December 20, according to the studio figures collected by comScore.

Casting of the film pose for photo. /Photo via Mtime

Directed by Jake Kasdan and stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan, the sequel to 1995's "Jumanji" follows four teenagers who are transported into the video game world of Jumanji and must work together to beat the game in order to return to the real world.

20th Century Fox's "The Post" came in second with an estimated 18.6 million US dollars in its fourth weekend but the first wide expansion weekend. The film premiered at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on December 14, 2017, and began a limited release on December 22, before a wide release on January 12.

Steven Spielberg directs Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in "The Post," a political thriller about the unlikely partnership between Washington Post's Katharine Graham, the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee, as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four US presidents.

Actors attend the "Jumanji : Welcome to the Jungle" red carpet event. /VCG Photo

The two must overcome their differences as they risk their careers – and their very freedom – to help bring long-buried truths to light.

The film received highly positive reviews with a strong "A" rating from moviegoers on CinemaScore. It was chosen by the National Board of Review as the best film of 2017 and was named as one of the top ten films of the year by the American Film Institute.

Lionsgate's "The Commuter" opened in third place with an estimated 13.45 million US dollars. The action thriller film follows an insurance salesman who is unwittingly recruited into a murder conspiracy after meeting a mysterious woman while on his daily train commute.

Universal's supernatural horror film "Insidious: The Last Key" landed in fourth place with an estimated 12.13 million US dollars in its second weekend. 20th Century Fox's musical biopic "The Greatest Showman" finished fifth with an estimated 11.8 million US dollars in its fourth weekend.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency