The force was strong with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which shot to number one with an estimated $155 million. This gives it the fourth largest December three-day weekend ever, delivering the third largest opening of 2016, the twelfth largest opening of all-time and became only the second December opener to debut over $100 million behind last year’s monster opening for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Will it have the staying power of The Force Awakens? That’s not likely considering there is a lot of competition coming its way but I do believe it will dominate the box office the rest of the year and considering this standalone entry didn’t have many of the recognizable characters we know from the franchise, I think this is a fantastic start.
You have to go all the way to fourth place to find Collateral Beauty which opened to a disappointing $7 million. This is the worse wide opening for a Will Smith release ever and the beating this has taken from critics won’t make its prospects much brighter. It did receive an “A-” CinemaScore which means opening night audiences enjoyed it more than the critics but even with the normal inflation that December can give to certain films, I think this one has opened too low to make an impact over the next few weeks.
Check out the full top ten below:
December 16-18
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story – $155 million
- Moana – $11.6 million
- Office Christmas Party – $8.4 million
- Collateral Beauty – $7 million
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them– $5 million
- Manchester By The Sea– $4.1 million
- La La Land– $4 million
- Arrival – $2.7 million
- Doctor Strange – $2 million
- Nocturnal Animals – $1.3 million
