Over the weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens became the first film to ever pass $800 million at the USA box office, while it also passed Skyfall to become the highest-grossing film in United Kingdom history, while it’s now also the highest-grossing Disney release ever in Russian Federation too.
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Meanwhile, back in North America, The Revenant pulled in a cool $38 million, exceeding expectations to nab the No. 2 spot. And he’s not bothered by it. Something he has been perturbed by though has been the exclusion of Rey (Daisy Ridley) from some of The Force Awakens merchandise that has been on shelves. Internationally it made another $146M (including a record-breaking $52.6M two-day opening in China) bringing its cume to $921M for a worldwide total of $1.73B, overtaking Jurassic World for number three all-time.
However, it appears fears that Star Wars simply does not have the requisite cultural cachet in China may have proven well-founded.
The original movies weren’t shown in Chinese theaters until last June. Its $41 million take pushed its cumulative total to $812 million since it opened.
Hitting “The Big B” overseas, however, will be easy. Global sales through Thursday reached 1.6 billion Disney said. It was forecast by the studio to generate more than $20 million for the weekend, while Boxoffice.com predicted $30 million.
Reviews the Leonardo DiCaprio/Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu epic was on the solid side. That makes it the third-highest grossing movie of all time behind “Avatar” and “Titanic”, according to IMDb.com Inc.’s Box Office Mojo.
The stronger-than-anticipated opening for The Revenant must have come as a bit of a relief for both Fox and producing partner Regency Pictures. Against a $10 million production budget the movie is already a financial success.
Awards analysts are closely watching the campaign for DiCaprio, who has been nominated for four acting Oscars during his career but has never won.
Sibling rivalry: Sisters, starring Amy Poehler and Tina Fey, made $7.2 million for a slot in fifth place. Daddy’s Home, which stars Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, earned $15 million over the weekend and $116.3 million domestically so far. In fact, according to the Financial Times, China is even expected to eclipse the U.S.as the world’s largest film market within the next two years.
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The 90 minute special of BBC One’s Sherlock: The Abominable Bride was released in cinemas in South Korea at New Year, debuting at Number Three in the country’s box office.
