But once again, it was all about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. After its record-shattering debut last weekend, more records were smashed this weekend as the J.J. Abrams blockbuster was off just 38% to $153.5 million. For a weekend during Christmas break, that's a heavy-ish decline, but coming off that huge of an opening weekend, its still a fantastic hold. The previous biggest second weekend on record, Jurassic World, earned $106.5 million in its second frame. In just 10 days of release, The Force Awakens has earned a jaw-dropping $544.6 million, becoming the fastest film to reach $300, $400 and $500 million. In comparison, Avatar only had $212 million through its 10th day (though to be fair, it held its $60-70 million weekends for 4-5 weeks). Next weekend may or may not be a strong hold as more fans have rushed out and school break comes to a close. But at this point, I think its safe to assume The Force Awakens will pass Avatar's $760 million final domestic gross to become the biggest (unadjusted) grossing movie of all-time in the U.S.Overseas, The Force Awakens continues to dominate, with $134 million picked up overseas, for over $500 million overseas earned in just two weeks. In the process, the latest Star Wars movie became the fastest film to pass $1 billion (12 days, previous record holder was Jurassic World in 13 days), and is at $1.09 billion so far already (and that's without China!). The Force Awakens is already in fifth place on the all-time domestic chart, and in 15th place on the all-time worldwide chart. There's a strong chance this winds up above $2 billion worldwide, and if China proves to be huge, it could give Avatar ($2.7 billion) a run for its money.
Meanwhile, there was other strength at the box office this weekend as unlike last weekend, Star Wars didn't exactly wipe out the competition.
Opening well above expectations in second place was Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's comedy collaboration, Daddy's Home. Solidly promoted despite negative reception critically (28% on Rotten Tomatoes), the flick earned a huge $38.8 million ($11,862 per-venue average). In comparison, expectations were for a $20 million debut. Comedies like this have proven to succeed over Christmas, such as Parental Guidance from 2012 and Cheaper by the Dozen from 2005. And being a family-ish (it is PG-13) comedy, it pulled in some parents with older children also. The CinemaScore was a "B+" so this should play fairly well over the coming weeks. For Ferrell, this is his second-biggest debut for a live-action flick behind The Talladega Knights, and its also a slightly-higher debut than Wahlberg and Ferrell's last collaboration, The Other Guys ($35 million). Distributor Paramount produced this with Red Granite Productions for $50 million.
Meanwhile, opening in third place with solid results was the latest from Jennifer Lawrence and director David O'Russell. Joy opened to $17.5 million, for a per-venue average of $6,043. Fox was expecting a mid-to-high-teens millions start. Joy was originally a predicted Best Picture contender, but unfortunately has been hurt by mixed reviews (57% on Rotten Tomatoes). The CinemaScore was a solid "B+", but because its on the outside looking in for Oscar contention, Joy may or may not hold well in the long run. The budget was $60 million.
Last weekend's other two openers swapped places this weekend. Despite added competition, Sisters remained virtually unchanged from last weekend, adding $13.9 million thanks to the Christmas holiday. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have gotten away with $37.7 million in 10 days so far. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip was off a light 11% to $12.7 million, for a decent $39.4 million gross in the same amount of time. Chipmunks has one more full week of Christmas break to look forward to, and could be in for a small jump up next weekend.
Opening in sixth place, Concussion, another originally-predicted Oscar contender plagued by mixed reviews (60% on Rotten Tomatoes), got lost a bit in the mix of new releases. The Will Smith drama earned $11 million, for a per-venue average of $3,872. That's behind expectations, which pegged for mid-to-high teens millions (though Sony was more conservative at $8-10 million). This is the lowest start to date for Smith, as he hasn't really been on the acting scene much lately (he does have Suicide Squad to look forward to next year). Concussion did earn a strong "A" CinemaScore from audiences, so it could definitely prove to be a sleeper in the coming weeks if audiences find it. Sony (released by Columbia) produced it for a relatively light $35 million.
Meanwhile, a much more likely Oscar contender expanded nationwide to seventh place and solid results. The Big Short earned $10.5 million, for a very good $6,637 per-venue average (second to Daddy's Home among all wide releases this weekend) from just 1,600 locations. The dramedy opened on Wednesday and has picked up $14.7 million in 5 days, and $16 million since its limited launch two weeks prior. Distributor Paramount's second release of the weekend, which earned an "A-" CinemaScore, could definitely prove to be a long-lasting title on this list if it gets strong Oscar consideration (it has 3 Golden Globe nominations right now including Best Picture - Musical or Comedy). The budget was $28 million.
The final new release failed to bring in much attention. Opening all the way down in eighth place was the remake of 80's flick Point Break. The adrenaline flick opened to $10.2 million ($3,512 per-venue average), and that includes 3D grosses as well. Distributor Warner Bros. did not show any sign of confidence in the flick when they placed it on a highly-competitive weekend. In addition, Point Break was savaged by critics (4% on Rotten Tomatoes), though the CinemaScore was a decent "B". This will likely fade from theaters quickly. In China, it has earned a decent $43 million, but in the face of a $105 million budget, that's not saying much. Warner Bros. should have a much more profitable year in 2016 to look forward to.The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part II remained in the mix in its sixth weekend, easing just 10% to $5.3 million, for a decent, if unspectacular $264.3 million gross in 37 days. Even with one more week of Christmas break, it's not looking likely for the final Katniss pic to reach $300 million. Rounding out the Top 10 was Creed, which was off 8% to $4.6 million, for a strong $96.3 million in one month of release.
Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful 8, another possible Oscar contender, opened in 100 locations and earned an impressive $4.5 million in 11th place. The Weinstein Company will expand the film nationwide next Friday where it could definitely do some serious damage.
Other notable films: The Good Dinosaur ($3.8 million, -13%, $105.4 million gross in one month), Krampus ($2.2 million, -46%, $40.5 million gross in 24 days), In the Heart of the Sea ($1 million, -71%, $22.4 million in 17 days), Spotlight ($1.1 million, -25%, $25 million in 8 weeks), Brooklyn ($1 million, -15%, $18.3 million gross in eight weeks). The Revenant ($470,000 limited start from 4 locations).
