The ‘Force’ is still with moviegoers
“Star Wars” sequel retains top box office spot over holiday weekend.
Fireworks and Champagne flutes couldn’t motivate enough moviegoers to go to the cineplex for a film other than Disney’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Over the New Year’s weekend, the latest installation of the George Lucas-created franchise topped Paramount’s “Daddy’s Home,” the Weinstein Co.’s “The Hateful Eight” and other holiday holdovers.
“The Force Awakens” grossed an estimated $88.3 million in the U.S. and Canada, nearly meeting expectations of $90 million for the weekend and pushing the J.J. Abrams-directed picture well past the $700-million domestic mark.
The space saga has broken ticket-sales records around the world with an estimated $1.5 billion globally. Some analysts think it could eventually challenge “Avatar’s” worldwide box-office record of $2.8 billion. The movie will open Saturday in China, the world’s secondlargest film market.
Placing second was “Daddy’s Home,” starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Distributed in partnership with Red Granite Pictures, the PG-13 comedy brought in an estimated $29 million in its second week.
Directed by Sean Anders, the $50-million movie stars Ferrell as a mild-mannered man trying to compete for the affections of his stepchildren after the arrival of their freewheeling biological father, played by Wahlberg. The comedic duo received a B-plus grade from audiences, according to polling firm CinemaScore. Critics, however, were less impressed, giving their performance a 28% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Daddy’s Home” has pulled in an estimated $93.7 million.
Taking the third spot was Quentin Tarantino’s violent epic “The Hateful Eight,” grossing $16.2 million in its second week.
Though it expanded to 2,500 domestic theaters Wednesday, the film fell short of expectations of $20 million.
A possible factor for that lessened performance was a screener copy of the movie that had been pirated and leaked online — along with copies of multiple other awards hopefuls. Tarantino has also been shadowed by controversy — a number of police unions across the country called for a boycott of the film last year after remarks Tarantino made about abuses by law enforcement officers.
The movie made its “roadshow” debut Christmas Day on 100 screens in 44 cities, where it was shown in a special 70-millimeter format praised by cinephiles for its high-resolution image quality.
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh, the $62-million picture received three Golden Globe nominations — supporting actress for Leigh, best screenplay and original score (for composer Ennio Morricone).
Rounding out the weekend box-office top five was Universal’s “Sisters” ($12.6 million) and Fox’s “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip” ($11.8 million).
Opening in limited release was Paramount’s “Anomalisa.” Pulling in an estimated $140,000 at four locations in New York and Los Angeles, the R-rated stopmotion animated drama was written by Charlie Kaufman and co-directed with Duke Johnson. The film, featuring the voices of David Thewlis, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Tom Noonan, has won nearly universal praise from critics and is nominated for a Golden Globe for animated film.
In its second week, Fox’s “The Revenant” pulled in an additional $450,000 in four theaters.
An awards contender, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and is directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, who also helmed the 2015 best picture Oscar winner “Birdman.”
Also, 2015 became the industry’s record holder for the best box office year. Aided by popular films like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Jurassic World” and “Furious 7,” the domestic box office crossed a record $11.1 billion, a 7% increase over the previous year.