‘Rogue One’ stays on top spot
It was an intergalactic holiday at movie theaters as Rogue One blasted past a spate of new releases to hold onto the top spot at the weekend box office.
The Star Wars story added another $96 million to its coffers over the four-day holiday period, according to studio estimates Monday. “The power of the Star
Wars brand made it the odds-on favorite to be the number one film on Christmas weekend despite a massive amount of competition,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker comScore.
That left the weekend’s many new releases in a race for second place. The animated animal musical Sing claimed that spot, debuting to $56 million. The Jennifer Lawrence-Chris Pratt space tale Passengers opened in third place with $23.1 million, followed by the R-rated comedy Why Him? with $16.7 million. The video-game adaptation Assassin’s Creed debuted in fifth place with $15 million.
Star Wars also dominated the holiday box office last year with The Force Awakens.
“Mid-December is kind of a magic time to release a big franchise film,” Dergarabedian said, noting that the topgrossing films of all time,
Avatar and Titanic, also opened in mid-December.
Half a dozen other films either opened or expanded over the holiday weekend. Denzel Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s
Fences expanded on Sunday, earning $11.37 million over the four-day weekend, good for sixth place.