NEW YORK • Those who wanted to watch something other than the latest Star Wars movie had their Christmas wish fulfilled.

While The Last Jedi still led the box office, topping US$100 million (S$134 million) in revenue for the second weekend in a row, five new releases gave more-earthbound fans plenty of alternatives, including a remake of Jumanji, a Matt Damon fantasy-comedy; and a picture about circus showman P.T. Barnum.

After opening on Wednesday, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle collected Friday-to-Monday revenue of US$50.4 million, beating estimates.

The weekends around Christmas are among the busiest for theatres. Exhibitors count on filling a lot of seats, even if some new movies are dubbed turkeys by critics.

Pitch Perfect 3, a sequel, opened with US$25.6 million to place third, trailing estimates. The Greatest Showman generated sales of US$14 million, matching BoxOfficePro's four-day estimate.

Downsizing opened with four-day weekend sales of US$7.3 million. Damon stars as an occupational therapist who joins a community of people who have shrunk themselves to save the planet and make their buying power go further.

BLOOMBERG