NEW YORK • For moviegoers, the holiday weekend was a choice of extremes.
Of the top five films at North American theatres, two were live-action franchise behemoths (Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, Jumanji: The Next Level).
Two were genial animated films with obvious appeal to families assembled for the holidays (Frozen 2, Spies In Disguise).
And one was a reimagining of a beloved but 150-year-old Louisa May Alcott book.
Alcott held her own.
Little Women, an adaptation by Greta Gerwig of Alcott's 19th-century novel, sold an estimated US$16.5 million (S$22.3 million) in tickets over the weekend.
That placed it in a dead heat for third place with Frozen 2, now in its sixth weekend in theatres.
Final counts yesterday were set to determine which film placed third.
Regardless, it was a good outing for Little Women, which opened on Christmas Day and finished the weekend with US$29 million in estimated cumulative sales.
An all-star cast doubtlessly helped hook audiences - Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Laura Dern, Timothee Chalamet and Meryl Streep are in it - and the movie received terrific reviews.
It currently holds a 95 per cent fresh rating on movie portal Rotten Tomatoes.
Reviews are not everything, though. Just consider Star Wars.
Despite being the most poorly reviewed entry in the most recent Star Wars trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker easily held on to first place over the weekend, with an estimated US$72 million take.
The movie is leaving its second weekend in theatres with an estimated US$724.8 million in total global ticket sales.
Second place went to Jumanji: The Next Level, an action-comedy sequel with Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart and others that made around US$35.3 million in its third weekend in domestic theatres.
But Cats went to the dogs, collecting just US$4.83 million.
Pundits expect the movie to incur a massive US$100 million loss for movie studio Universal.
NYTIMES
