"The Revenant" makes strong showing in 1st week of wide release
By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" stayed on top of the North American box office for the fourth straight weekend, beating out Leonardo DiCaprio in "The Revenant," and becoming the third-largest grossing movie in the world ever.
According to studio estimates Sunday, the adventures of Rey, Finn and stalwarts from the previous "Star Wars" films raked in $41.6 million in the U.S. and Canada and $104.3 million overseas, led by a record-breaking opening in China.
Disney distribution Executive Vice President Dave Hollis said the expected $53 million debut weekend in China was "spectacular" given the film is the first "Star Wars" episode many Chinese people have ever seen. "We're very encouraged," he said.
In the U.S. and Canada, it is the biggest movie ever and the first to pass $800 million with $812 million so far.
Its global total now stands at $1.73 billion, according to The Walt Disney Co., passing "Jurassic World," with $1.67 billion.
The film now has in its sights No. 2 "Titanic," with its $2.2 billion box office haul in 1997-98, and No. 1 "Avatar," from 2009-2010 at $2.8 billion.
Its place as the all-time biggest movie is by no means assured, according to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with Rentrak. "Avatar" had a smaller opening but kept ringing cash registers through awards season, something that won't be clear for "Star Wars" until the Golden Globes on Sunday night and Oscar nominations on Thursday.
"I don't think it's necessarily predestined," Dergarabedian said. "That's a big number. It's a tough number to get to. I think $2 billion is in the cards but if any movie has that potential (to be No. 1), it would certainly be 'The Force Awakens.'"
"The Revenant," a gritty R-rated movie directed by Alejandro Inarritu about an 1820s frontiersman who gets mauled by a bear, blasted through expectations of about $25 million in its first weekend of wide release with a $38 million haul, following limited showings in New York and Los Angeles in December.
Already buzzing for Oscars in categories like best director and best actor, 20th Century Fox's domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson said "The Revenant" surprisingly brought in mainstream audiences despite its at-times graphic material.
"It's very graphic, it's very real," Aronson said. "You watch this and you're going to feel cold."
Having the film open wide well after "Star Wars" was released gave it room to breathe, he said. "Now I think there's a specialness to this film that might have been lost earlier."
Of the Top 10 films this weekend, only Focus Features' "The Forest" was in theaters for the first time over the weekend, coming in fourth at $13.1 million.
Focus president of distribution Jim Orr said the horror film topped expectations. It put "Game of Thrones" star Natalie Dormer in a forest at the base of Mount Fuji renowned for suicides. The film found a younger audience skewing female that is typical of most horror films, but saw a bump Saturday from Friday, which is unusual and which Orr credited to good word of mouth.
"Hopefully that will help it leg out better than the genre normally does," he said.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $41.6 million ($104.3 million international).
2. "The Revenant," $38 million ($20.2 million international).
3. "Daddy's Home," $15 million ($10.2 million international).
4. "The Forest," $13.1 million ($450,000 international).
5. "Sisters," $7.2 million ($3.4 million international).
6. "The Hateful Eight," $6.4 million ($12 million international).
7. "The Big Short," $6.3 million ($4.6 million international).
8. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip," $5.5 million ($5.8 million international).
9. "Joy," $4.5 million ($7.5 million international).
10. "Concussion," $3.1 million.
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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," $104.3 million.
2. "The Revenant," $20.2 million.
3. "The Hateful Eight," $12 million.
4. "The Good Dinosaur," $12 million.
5. "Detective Chinatown," $11.8 million.
6. "Quo Vado?" $11.5 million.
7. "Daddy's Home," $10.2 million.
8. "Sherlock: The Abominable Bride," $9 million.
9. "The Peanuts Movie," $8.6 million.
10. "Joy," $7.5 million.
11. "Mr. Six," $7.5 million.
12. "Point Break," $6 million.
13. "Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip," $5.8 million.
14. "The Big Short," $4.6 million.
15. "Mojin: The Lost Legend," $4.3 million.
16. "Bridge of Spies," $3.9 million.
17. "Sisters," $3.4 million.
18. "The Danish Girl," $3.2 million.
19. "Spectre," $3.2 million.
20. "The Forest," $450,000.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More