The Christmas weekend was all about The Force Awakens again, as Episode VII crossed 1 billion globally in just 12 days, making it the fastest movie to reach that milestone ever. Domestically is no less impressive, as the movie earned 153 million here in the states over the weekend, the second biggest weekend of all time, again beating Jurassic World's second week of 106 million. It has now earned 545 million, landing in the No. 5 spot of all time, in just 10 days. At this rate it seems fairly certain to beat Avatar's 750 million total, especially given the holiday box office pattern of high earning weekdays until the end of the year.
There were other new releases over Christmas that did well this weekend too, with second place going to Daddy's Home, the Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg comedy that earned 38 million, and the Jennifer Lawrence/David O. Russell dramedy Joy opening in third with 17 million. The holdovers in the top five included Sisters, which pulled in another 13 million, bringing its total to 37 million, and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Trip, taking in another 12 million. Will Smith's Concussion fell flat, opening to just 11 million.
Top 5:
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- 153.5 million
- Daddy's Home- 38.8 million
- Joy- 17.5 million
- Sisters- 13.9 million
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Trip- 12.7 million
Other new films released on less screens did spectacularly well this weekend too, all helping to make it the biggest Christmas weekend ever at the box office. Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight opened on just 100 screens for its special 70mm run, and got into the top ten with 4.5 million and a fantastic PTA of 45k. Leo Dicaprio's The Revenant opened in 4 theaters for a 471k total and a stellar 117k PTA, the second best of the year, and The Big Short expanded to 1500 screens and earned 10.2 million. Tune in next week for New Year's weekend as most of these films will continue to do well over the holiday break.
