Now the world’s second-largest film market, China was only beginning to emerge from its Cultural Revolution in 1977, when the first “Star Wars” premiered.
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‘Ride Along 2’ made a chart-topping debut with $34 million. Dropping 48 percent in its fifth weekend, The Force Awakens added a respectable $4.4 million to bring its United Kingdom total to $168.6 million, the best showing of all time in the United Kingdom. According to Nomura Holdings Inc, a Japanese research group, the latest movie is projected to earn around $230 million over its full run in Chinese cinemas.
Star Wars: Episode VIII will be released in theaters on May 26, 2017.
Still, the sequel, which opened January 9 in mainland China to a record $53 million, fell dramatically in its second weekend of release, earning just $14.82 million and losing to “Boonie Bears 3”, a low-budget adaptation of a local animated television series.
In total, there were around 1.8 million admissions over the weekend in Germany, accounting for a $17.4 million (€16 million) gross.
This achieved not only the highest grossing opening day, but also the highest grossing opening week ever at the cinema, eclipsing the previous results for the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in 2012.
Much like the Star Wars The Force Awakens poster, there is no room for either Luke Skywalker or Supreme Leader Snoke, though both are mentioned at various times throughout the book. That’s Bay’s worst opening in a decade. (Remember ‘Pearl Harbor’?) He may be the least appealing director to tackle the controversial Benghazi story.
The four-week-old Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg comedy ‘Daddy’s Home’ rounded out the Top 5. “Ride Along 2”, $41.5 million. 2.
Hoping to draw the family audiences that haven’t had a new movie in five weeks, Lionsgate’s ‘Norm of the North’ wasn’t able to capitalize on the gap. “The Revenant”, $39 million. 3.
Alejandro G. Inarritu’s The Revenant roared to an impressive $7.9 million debut at the United Kingdom box office, buoyed by a bevy of Oscar and BAFTA nominations, in addition to Golden Globe wins. ‘Brooklyn’ climbed 57% with $1.6 million and sits with a domestic total of $24.6 million. “Sisters”, $5.5 million. 10.
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Opening numbers for “Moonwalkers” have yet to be announced.
