'Jumanji' tops a strong holiday weekend at the box office (SNE)

"Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" wins the domestic box office for the second-straight weekend.
The movie will take in an estimated $33.4 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
"The Post" and "The Commuter" also had strong weekends.

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend at the box office is going strong, and Hollywood can thank The Rock, Meryl Streep, and Liam Neeson.

Yes, that's quite a unique trio, but this January seems to be that rarity where audiences are being offered a unique mix of options that's motivating different demos to head to the multiplex.

Topping the domestic box office heap for a second-straight weekend is Sony's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle." The Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson-powered teen-friendly actioner took in an estimated $27 million by Sunday ($33.4 million by the Monday holiday), according to boxofficepro.com, putting its domestic total at just under $300 million by Monday. That places it sixth all-time for Sony's best domestic grossing movies ever. Once it passes the $304 million mark it will pass "Skyfall" for fifth all-time.

That's an impressive take for a movie that had to fight for every dollar at the start of its theatrical run when it was up against "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."

But this Martin Luther King weekend is a rarity as a major holdover from the previous year isn't the only hot ticket.

Steven Spielberg's "The Post" expanded to over 2,819 screens and it paid off with a $18.6 million take up to Sunday ($22.2 million four-day). With the movie's Oscar hype, Golden Globes nominations, the Meryl Streep-Tom Hanks lead duo, and the storyline's connection to current politics, Fox has a title that's motivating the thirty-somethings and over to the theaters.

One of the major wide releases this weekend also had a strong outing. Lionsgate's "The Commuter," Liam Neeson's latest action movie, came in third place with $13.4 million ($16 million, four-day). Though Neeson is 65 he seems to still be believable enough to be running around doing thrilling things.

However, "Paddington 2," despite having a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Warner Bros. playing it on over 3,700 screens (around 800 more than "The Commuter"), only took in $10.6 million ($14.5 million, four-day). A drastic drop from its $19 million domestic opening the original had in 2015. But don't be too sad for the bear — the movie has already made over $125 million overseas.

'Jumanji' tops a strong holiday weekend at the box office (SNE)

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