Weekend Box Office Wrap-up: December 27, 2016

NOTE: The numbers this week are estimates from the 4-day weekend from December 23 – 26

This holiday weekend saw several high-profile new releases, but few of them could make a dent at the box office with a certain popular holdover still riding a wave of positive buzz.

Repeating in first place is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story with $96 million. That is only a 38 percent decrease from its opening weekend, which is a very strong hold for the blockbuster. Thanks to Rogue One‘s excellent word-of-mouth (and the poor reception of its competition), it was the clear genre picture of choice for audiences. The spinoff is now up to $318 million domestically and already ranks as the ninth highest-grossing movie of 2016. So far, the worldwide haul is $555.4 million, meaning the film is well on its way to approaching the $1 billion club.

In second is the new animated film Sing (read our review), which made $56 million over the weekend. The latest from Illumination Entertainment could not truly contend with the massive Star Wars franchise, but it still held its own very well and got off to a great start. Sing benefitted from being the only fresh family movie playing over the Christmas window (Moana has now been out for a month), and the positive reviews added to its wide appeal. The film opened on Wednesday, December 21, so its domestic total stands at $76.6 million right now.

Looking ahead to January, there doesn’t seem to be much that can challenge Sing in terms of its target demographic, so it seems to be set up for a very lucrative run over the next month. The production budget (which doesn’t include marketing costs) ran for a manageable $75 million, and it’s already made that back in the United States. Odds are, it’ll turn a nice profit for the studio by the time it’s all said and done.

The #3 film is Passengers (read our review), which grossed $23.1 million over the 4-day weekend. Despite featuring the combined talents and star power of A-listers Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, the sci-fi romance could not overcome its largely negative critical reception and post a decent commercial haul. Passengers was going to have rough sledding due to opening against Star Wars, but it might have fared better if the word-of-mouth was stronger. As it were, Passengers had limited appeal and struggled to make an impact. Like Sing, it premiered on December 21 and has made $30.4 million in the U.S. so far, which doesn’t bode well for Sony’s $110 million investment.

The comedy Why Him? (read our review) comes in fourth with $16.7 million. That is a similar debut to director John Hamburg’s last directorial effort, I Love You, Man, which made $17.8 million when it opened back in 2009. With a typically crowded Christmas marketplace, it would have been easy for Why Him? to get overshadowed by everything else playing, but its mixed reception (in this case, a plus since it wasn’t widely panned like other new releases) combined with the pairing of James Franco and Bryan Cranston helped it stand out. It’s unlikely to stay around the top of the charts for much longer, but it still performed decently and only cost $38 million to make.

Rounding out the top five is Assassin’s Creed (read our review), which brought in $15 million over the weekend. Unfortunately for those hoping video game movies will become the next big thing, Assassin’s Creed is unlikely to be a game changer. Similar to Passengers, it was slammed by critics, which was the kiss of death against Rogue One. Since the adaptation opened on December 21, its domestic total is now $22.4 million, and it is going to need a massive boost from the international markets in order to turn a profit. The global total right now is just $36.6 million, so this is hardly the start Fox was looking for.

Expanding nationwide, Denzel Washington’s Fences (read our review) came in sixth with $11.3 million. The drama has been the recipient of much awards buzz, particularly for the performances of Washington and Viola Davis, which encouraged cinephiles to check it out in theaters. Fences has now made $11.5 million domestically.

Coming in seventh is Moana with $10.4 million. Disney Animation’s latest expectedly took a hit in business with the arrival of Sing. To date, the film has made $183.4 million in the U.S. and $327.9 million worldwide.

The #8 film is La La Land with $5.7 million. The Oscar frontrunner expanded to more theaters on Christmas and is now up to $13.6 million domestically.

Office Christmas Party comes in ninth, grossing $5.1 million. The R-rated comedy had to deal with Why Him? for viewers and slid down the charts after coming in third last week. It’s now made $42.1 million Stateside.

Capping off the top ten is Collateral Beauty. The Will Smith vehicle made $4.2 million in its second weekend and is now up to $15.2 million domestically.

[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates — based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Tuesday, December 27 — at which time we’ll update this post with any changes.]