‘Rogue One’ Breaks Record as 9th $300M Film of 2016
There was no stopping Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this holiday weekend. The highly receptive Star Wars spin-off pulled in an estimated $96 million over the extended frame.
It’s no secret that Rogue One is not The Force Awakens. Even a year later, it’s still difficult to explain The Force Awakens juggernaut. In it’s three-day frame, Rogue One dropped 58% from last weekend’s $155 million debut. Though some of that decline can be contributed to Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday. The last occasion was in 2011, though Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked held slightly better. Rogue One will still command the box office for another two weeks, pushing its total well over $400 million just as we ring in 2017. $500 million is still in the cards.
While it couldn’t overtake Rogue One, Illumination Entertainment’s Sing blew up at the box office. The animated ensemble film grossed $56 million over the holiday weekend. Sing was never expected to become another Despicable Me 2 or The Secret Life of Pets. Even though this on the lighter side of Illumination’s box office success, Sing is slated to become one of the biggest hits of the holidays. The film managed to take away plenty of Moana’s competition, leaving a leggy run in the coming weeks. If its A grade on Cinemascore is any indication, families will continue to flock to Sing. We could be looking at a $180-200 million run.
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence are known for their recent box office hits. With Guardian of the Galaxy, Jurassic World and X-Men: Days of Future Past, we come to expect a certain amount of star power. Passengers was a bit of a dud over the holiday weekend. Opening in third place, the sci-fi Sony flick grossed $23.1 million in the past four days. That brings its six-day total to just over $30 million. Out of all the new releases, Passengers had the lowest grade on Cinemascore with a B. Going head-to-head against Rogue One didn’t help its cause either. If it hang on during the holidays, a $55-60 million finish is certainly possible.
Why Him?, starring James Franco and Bryan Cranston claimed fourth place this weekend. The 20th Century Fox comedy grossed $16.7 million over the extended weekend. Despite opening two days later than rest of the new competition, Why Him? hardly capitalized on a lack of a mid-week burn. In previous years, comedies like last year’s Daddy’s Home broke out over the holiday. Even Office Christmas Party from a few weeks ago debuted slightly higher. Why Him? just wasn’t able to click like so many others.
Rounding out the charts this weekend is Assassin’s Creed with $15.0 million over the four-day frame. The Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard video game adaptation performed less than average for the genre. Compared to Angelina Jolie’s Tomb Raider franchise and the Resident Evil series, there seem to be little interest in Assassin’s Creed. The franchise has been popular with gamers. Perhaps the demographic realized that these types of films don’t translate well from game to big screen. We’ll see how it holds over the holiday break, but it may be hard to pass $50 million.
Sing fell below my $41.5 million three-day prediction. However, Passengers, Why Him? and Assassin’s Creed all performed better than my estimates.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (1)
$64.4 million / $96.1 million / $318.1 million total
#2 – Sing (NR)
$35.3 million / $56.1 million / $76.7 million total
#3 – Passengers (NR)
$14.9 million / $23.1 million / $30.4 million total
#4 – Why Him? (NR)
$11.0 million / $16.7 million / $16.7 million total
#5 – Assassin’s Creed (NR)
$10.3 million / $15.0 million / $22.4 million total
Opening Next Week: Ocean Waves (limited), Paterson (limited)
Source: Box Office Mojo
