Star Wars: The Force Awakens got a scare in its fourth weekend, and by scare I mean it almost got dethroned as the number one movie. The scare came in the form of the survivalist tale The Revenant starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Expanding from four screens to 3,375 the film netted a $2.3M Thursday on its way to rake in an estimated $38 million. For a film plagued with production problems, which saw the budget bloom to $135 million, 20th Century Fox has to be pleased with its performance. The big question is if it can sustain viewership in the coming weeks as it makes its Oscar push while contending with new releases.
The only new release in the top ten was the mediocre The Forest, which opened with $13 million – a far cry from the $39M Taken 3 made the same weekend one year ago.
In between The Revenant and The Forest was the Will Ferrell-Mark Wahlberg comedy, Daddy’s Home with $15M, which raises its total to $116M. At this rate it will be one of Ferrell’s best-performing comedies in which he’s one of the principal stars. While it may not reach the levels of Elf ($173M), it may well close in on Talladega Nights‘ $148M.
Oscar hopefuls The Hateful Eight and The Big Short had a photo finish to end the weekend for spots No. 6 and 7 on the list as both made approximately $6.3M with Tarantino’s western performing a hair better with an extra $51k.
Looking to knock Star Wars out of first we have the Ice Cube-Kevin Hart comedy Ride Along 2 as well as Michael Bay’s 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (might as well call it BAY-ghazi in terms of explosions and incendiary devices that get top billing). The first Ride Along had a $41M opening in 2014. And as far as Bay’s film goes, never underestimate gung-ho patriotism as evident by the January performances by the likes of American Sniper and Lone Survivor in previous years.
The complete top 10 below.
01. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – $41.6 Million ($812m)
02. The Revenant – $38 Million ($39.5m)
03. Daddy’s Home – $15 Million ($116.3m)
04. The Forest – $13 Million
05. Sisters – $7.1 Million ($74.8m)
06. The Hateful Eight – $6.35 Million ($41.4m)
07. The Big Short – $6.3 Million ($42.8m)
08. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip – $5.5 Million ($75.6m)
09. Joy – $4.5 Million ($46.5m)
10. Concussion – $3 Million ($30.9m)
