Internationally, though, it lags far behind another science-fiction movie – “Avatar” – and analysts do not expect it to earn enough in China, where not many people are familiar with “Star Wars”, to knock “Avatar” off its perch. Researcher Rentrak Corp. estimates ” Furious 7 generated $391.4 million in the country in 2015 andMonster Hunt, a Chinese fantasy movie, grossed $393.2 million.
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“As fans leave the market, the momentum of Star Wars has entered the phase of an average Hollywood blockbuster”, Li said.
A record-breaking opening in China last week has made a huge contribution to the global success of Star Wars, which made $53m (£36m) in its debut weekend, described as “spectacular” by Disney’s executive vice-president Dave Hollis.
For the third consecutive time, three Disney movies made more than $700 million globally: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Inside Out. It has a chance of becoming the first ever film to gross $1 billion domestically.
Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Peter Mayhew are all set to reprise their roles from Force Awakens. The movie is still showing in theaters in North America as well, and still earning top dollar in just about every market it’s being shown in. Basically, this has been an unbelievable weekend for DiCaprio, director Alejandro G. Inarritu, and The Revenant, as the movie went on to claim Golden Globes for DiCaprio’s grueling performance, Innaritu’s direction, and Best Picture (Drama) in addition to all its box office success.
Daddy’s Home dropped to third place with a $15.02 million gross.
The braindead Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy ‘Sisters’ rounded out the Top 5 in its fourth week with $7.1 million.
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Rounding out the top ten were: The Hateful Eight ($6.3 million); The Big Short ($6.3 million); Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip ($5.5 million); Joy ($4.5 million); and, Concussion ($3.1 million). That brought the film’s total earnings to $1.73 billion.
