Disney and LucasFilm’sRogue One: A Star Wars Storybecame abox office hitin its first weekend, taking in a massive $155 million. That weekend, it only had one movie going up against it, with Warner Bros.' star-studded drama ensembleCollateral Beauty. But in its second frame, it had much more competition. This year’s crowded Christmas slate featured Universal’sSing, Sony’sPassengersand a pair of 20th Century Fox films,Assassin’s CreedandWhy Him?, none of which were expected to giveRogue Onea run for its money this weekend.Rogue Oneeasily came out on top again, taking in an estimated $64.3 million for the three-day weekend, and $96 million for the four-day holiday weekend, which includes Monday estimates.
Box Office Mojoreports that, over the three-day frame,Rouge Onedropped 58.5% from its opening weekend, but if you use the four-day numbers of $96 million, it only dropped 38%. That latter figure is more on par with the 39.8% drop ofStar Wars: The Force Awakenslast year, when Christmas Day fell on a Friday, instead of Sunday this year. This weekend’s tally has putRogue Oneover the $300 million domestic milestone, with its current take at $318 million, which is the ninth best tally this year, although it will likely pass a number of films in the weeks ahead, such asSuicide Squad($325.1 million),Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice($330.1 million) andZootopia($341.2 million). It still has some work to do to get into the top 5 for the year, though, which is comprised ofDeadpool($363 million),The Jungle Book($364 million),The Secret Life of Pets($368.4 million),Captain America: Civil War($408.8 million) andFinding Dory($486.2 million).
Despite four newcomers challengingRogue One: A Star Wars Story, none managed to come close, with the new releases rounding out the top 5 behind thisStar Wars adventure. The animated musicalSingdebuted in second place with $35.2 million ($56 million four-day gross), followed byPassengersin third place with $14.8 million ($23.8 million four-day gross),Why Him?in fourth place with $11 million ($16.7 million) andAssassin’s Creedin fifth place with $10.2 million ($15 million four-day gross). Aside fromSing(72% on Rotten Tomatoes), none of the other newcomers were too beloved by critics, withPassengersscoring a 32% RT rating, withWhy Him?earning a 41% RT rating whileAssassin’s Creedearned just a 19% RT score.Singdebuted in 4,022 theaters for an impressive $13,943 per-screen average, with a $76.6 million domestic total since debuting on Wednesday, December 21.Passengersdebuted in 3,478 for a decent $6,642 per-screen average, for a domestic total of $30.4 million since its Wednesday debut.Why Him?earned $5,730 from 2,917 theaters for a six-day domestic total of $16.7 million, whileAssassin’s Creedearned a $5,051 per-screen average from 2,970 theaters, for a domestic total of $22.4 million.
Singis set in a world like ours but entirely inhabited by animals, centering on Buster Moon (Academy Award winnerMatthew McConaughey), a dapper Koala who presides over a once-grand theater that has fallen on hard times. Buster is an eternal optimist-okay, maybe a bit of a scoundrel-who loves his theater above all and will do anything to preserve it. Now facing the crumbling of his life’s ambition, he has one final chance to restore his fading jewel to its former glory by producing the world’s greatest singing competition. Five lead contestants emerge: A mouse (Seth MacFarlane) who croons as smoothly as he cons, a timid teenage elephant (Tori Kelly) with an enormous case of stage fright, an overtaxed mother (Academy Award winnerReese Witherspoon) run ragged tending a litter of 25 piglets, a young gangster gorilla (Taron Egerton) looking to break free of his family’s felonies, and a punk-rock porcupine (Scarlett Johansson) struggling to shed her arrogant boyfriend and go solo. Each animal arrives under Buster’s marquee believing that this is their shot to change the course of their life.
The release ofPassengersmarks the end of this story’s journey that spans nearly a decade, after writerJon Spaihts' script landed on the coveted Black List back in 2007.Keanu ReevesandReese Witherspoonwere once attached to star, long beforeChris PrattandJennifer Lawrencelanded the roles of Jim Preston and Aurora Lane. On a routine journey through space to a new home, twoPassengers, sleeping in suspended animation, are awakened 90 years too early when their ship malfunctions. As Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) face living the rest of their lives on board, with every luxury they could ever ask for, they begin to fall for each other, unable to deny their intense attraction… until they discover the ship is in grave danger. With the lives of 5000 sleeping passengers at stake, only Jim and Aurora can save them all. The supporting cast includesMichael Sheen,Laurence FishburneandAndy Garcia.
Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day. The cast also includesMarion Cotillard,Ariane Labed,Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson},Michael K. WilliamsandDenis Menochet.Justin Kurzel, who directed bothMichael FassbenderandMarion CotillardinMacBeth, directs from a script byBill Collage,Adam CooperandMichael Lesslie.
Why Him?is set over the holidays, where Ned (Bryan Cranston), an overprotective but loving dad and his family visit his daughter (Zoey Deutch) at Stanford, where he meets his biggest nightmare: her well-meaning but socially awkward Silicon Valley billionaire boyfriend, Laird (James Franco). A rivalry develops, and Ned’s panic level goes through the roof when he finds himself lost in this glamorous high-tech world and learns that Laird is about to pop the question. The supporting cast includesMegan Mullaly,Griffin Gluck,Cedric the Entertainer,Kaley Cuoco,Adam Devine,Casey WilsonandAndrew Rannells.
The top 10 is rounded out byMoana($7.4 million, $10.4 million four-day),Fences$6.6 million, $11.3 million four-day),La La Land($5.7 million, $9.7 million four-day),Office Christmas Party($5.1 million, $7.2 million four-day) andCollateral Beauty($4.2 million, $7 million four-day).Fencesexpanded from six theaters last weekend, where earned an impressive $129,462 from four theaters for a $32,366 per-screen average, to 2,233 theaters this weekend, where it earned a $2,995 per-screen average. The film currently sits at $11.5 million domestically, just under half of its $24 million budget.La La Landexpanded into 534 more theaters for a total of 734 theaters, with a decent $7,806 per-screen average.
There were also a number of highly-anticipated films opening in limited release this weekend, many of which fared quite well. Paramount’sSilencehad the best limited release weekend of all, earning $131,000 from four theaters for a whopping $32,750 per-screen average. 20th Century Fox’sHidden Figurestook in $515,499 from 25 theaters for a $20,620 per-screen average, with Lionsgate’sPatriot’s Dayearning an impressive $161,306 from seven theaters for a $23,044 per-screen average. Focus Features’A Monster Callsearned $30,910 from four theaters for a $7,728 per-screen average, with Warner Bros.‘Live By Nightearning $33,000 from four theaters for a $8,250 per-screen average. No box office figures were given for IFC’sThe Autopsy of Jane Doe, A24’s20th Century Womenor Sony Pictures Classics’Toni Erdmann.
Looking ahead to next weekend, there are actually no new movies opening in wide or limited release on December 30, although Bleecker Street’sPatersonand GKIDS’Ocean Wavesarrive in limited release on Wednesday, December 28. In the first weekend of the new year, Screen Gems will makeUnderworld: Blood Warsthe first movie of 2017 on January 6, withA Monster Callsset to expand nationwide on that date. Take a look at our projected top 10 below, for the weekend of December 23.
