After three weeks of its grosses looking as colossal as that asteroid critter from The Empire Strikes Back, the latest Star Wars movie dwindled to merely the size of a sarlacc this weekend. But hey, it was still big enough to eat everybody else’s lunch.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens gobbled up an estimated $41.6 million to win its fourth straight box office title. All told, this sci-fi beastie has digested 812 million domestic dollars—a diet no other movie in history has ever consumed. (It officially passed Avatar’s $760.5 million on Jan. 7 to become the highest-grossing movie in North America ever.) At this point, it’s probably easier to tally the records The Force Awakens doesn’t own than the ones it does.
For one, it still trails two James Cameron-directed flicks—Avatar and Titanic—in worldwide grosses. Avatar is first on the list with $2.8 billion, while Titanic bobs along at $2.2 billion. But hey, the fat lady from Tatooine’s cantina band ain’t singing just yet: The latest Star Wars movie has already banked more than $1.7 billion worldwide, and it just opened in China—the second biggest movie market in the world—this weekend. (It earned a strong $53 million there, incidentally.)
The Force Awakens also lags behind a host of movies in adjusted dollars when inflation is factored into the mix. Box Office Mojo tells us that The Force Awakens is 15th on the domestic list—waaaay behind the all-time champ Gone With the Wind. While the Civil War epic earned $198.7 million back in the day, keep in mind that its day was 1939. Adjust those figures for inflation, and it earned more than $1.7 billion. Oh, and the original Star Wars—A New Hope to you youngsters—is No. 2 with $1.5 billion.
In other box office news, The Revenant, one of last night’s big Golden Globe winners, performed well as the movie rolled wide, collecting $38 million. The Force Awakens (ahem) bearly withstood The Revenant’s challenge for No. 1, in fact. But in the end, The Revenant was frozen out of the top spot and had to settle for second place.
Daddy’s Home continues to hold strong, garnering another $15 million for third place. The Forest, the weekend’s sole wide-release newcomer, couldn’t see itself for all the holdover trees in the way. Its $13.1 million was only good enough for fourth. Sisters, the R-rated Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy, yakked its way to a $7.2 million fifth-place finish.
Final figures update: 1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, $42.4 million; 2. The Revenant, $39.8 million; 3. Daddy’s Home, $15 million; 4. The Forest, $12.7 million; 5. Sisters, $7.2 million.
Recent Comments