
As of now, there won’t be a new movie opening in wide release on Christmas Day. There are two films opening in NYC & LA (“Phantom Thread” and “Molly’s Game”), but none in more than 600 locations.
Why? Because Dec. 25 is a Monday this year. And while there will be an extended weekend box office (Fri-Mon), no new film would be counted in the regular Fri-Sun box office results. Studios would be missing out on huge weekend crowds.
Until very recently, “The Greatest Showman” was supposed to open on Christmas Day, but Fox decided to move it up five days to Wednesday Dec. 20 – the same day Sony’s “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” opens. Scheduled for wide release on Friday the 22nd: “Pitch Perfect 3”, Alexander Payne’s “Downsizing”, the comedy “Father Figures” and (for now) “All the Money in the World”, now with Christopher Plummer.
There should be a few films that expand nationwide and/or into a few hundred more theaters on Christmas Day. “I, Tonya” will likely be one of them, along with “The Shape of Water” and probably one or two other late, Awards Season contenders.
But 2017 marks the second straight Christmas Day without a new wide release. Last year, the “big” end-of-year releases opened on Wednesday the 21st (“Sing”, “Passengers”, “Assassin’s Creed”) and Friday the 23rd (“Why Him?”) – none on Sunday the 25th.
2015 was a different story since Dec. 25 was a Friday. The holiday was opening day for “Joy”, “Concussion”, the “Point Break” remake and “Daddy’s Home”. In 2014, with Christmas on a Thursday: “Into the Woods”, “Unbroken”, “Big Eyes” and “The Gambler”. There were five in 2013 (“The Wolf of Wall Street”, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, “Grudge Match”, “47 Ronin” and Justin Bieber’s “Believe” – what a bomb) and three in 2012 (“Les Miserables”, “Django Unchained” and “Parental Guidance”).
2011 only had two new Christmas Day releases: Steven Spielberg’s “War Horse” and the thriller “The Darkest Hour” (not to be confused with the upcoming Gary Oldman Winston Churchill drama). In 2010, with Christmas on a Saturday, the Jack Black comedy “Gulliver’s Travels” was the only newbie. And on Christmas Day 2009: “Avatar” (in its 2nd weekend) and “Sherlock Holmes” earned more than $20 million each, with “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel” and “It’s Complicated” also ringing-in big bucks.
Source: Box Office Mojo