The rest of the top five remained relatively stagnant with Justice League at No. 2 and Wonder at No. 3, followed by a tale of triumph worthy of its ultimate underdog subject: The Disaster Artist made a dramatic jump from No. 12 to No. 4, fueled by a respectable $7,661 per-screen average on each of its 840 screens. (That’s 821 screens up from its 19-screen limited-release debut last weekend.) A tongue-in-cheek biopic about a crazed megalomaniac with a shady past and an total lack of self-awareness is apparently just the right temperature for audiences—and critics, save for a few exceptions like our own Ignatiy Vishnevetsky—in 2017, if only because Tommy Wiseau, unlike some other delusional narcissists we could name, doesn’t have the ability to start a nuclear war.
Speaking of pop-cultural punchlines, I, Tonya, starring Margot Robbie as the vilified Olympic figure skater from the wrong side of Portland, followed in The Disaster Artist’s footsteps with a strong limited debut at No. 19, pulling in an average of $61,401 on each of its four screens. The film—which, like The Disaster Artist, is garnering awards buzz for its eerily on-point lead performance—is currently playing in New York and L.A., with a traditional platform rollout from up-and-coming distributor Neon continuing into January. A more cautious release might have helped the week’s sole wide-release debut, Just Getting Started, which flopped at No. 10, only pulling in $1,472 on each of its 2,161 screens. Then again, based on the abysmal reviews the film has been getting—when it’s getting reviewed at all—maybe not.
