“Revenant” Can’t Disrupt “Force” at Box Office

By Kip Mooney • On • In News News 0

BOX OFFICE REPORT

January 8-10, 2016

(estimates from BoxOfficeMojo.com)

TOP 5

Star Wars: The Force Awaken ($41.6 million)
The Revenant ($38.0 million)
Daddy’s Home ($15.0 million)
The Forest ($13.0 million)
Sisters ($7.1 million)

There was a disturbance in the force on Friday when The Revenant took the top spot from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. That lead did not last for the whole weekend, however, as the seventh installment continued its box office dominance. This is the first time a movie has made more than $800 million domestically. But now it will look slightly vulnerable. It’s highly unlikely it will be No. 1 next week and probably will not return to the top spot again. Still, what a run.

The Revenant was a very close No. 2. The Leonardo DiCaprio-led survivor story debuted with an impressive $38 million. That speaks to Leo’s star power, since a movie about fur trappers in the 1800s isn’t exactly a well-known commodity. Last year, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu won the Oscar for Birdman. That was his highest grossing movie to date with $42.3 million. The Revenant will pass that later this week.

Daddy’s Home took the third spot, continuing to hold well since opening Christmas Day. The Forest, the only truly new debut of 2016 thus far, did better than expected, taking in $13 million for fourth place. Sisters took No. 5 with $7.1 million.

Outside the top 5:

      • This Weekend's Indie Champ: Anomalisa, the animated romance, took in $13,000 on each of its 17 screens, as it continues to expand.
      • The Hateful Eight took a pretty big hit in its second week of wide release. Quentin Tarantino’s latest fell nearly 60 percent, but has made $41 million since opening in limited release on Christmas Day.
      • Chimes at Midnight, the rare Orson Welles adaptation of several of Shakespeare’s plays featuring the character Falstaff, continues to do well in its limited engagement. It made $19,000 on its lone screen.

Next week:
2016 gets started in a big way. Ride Along 2 (the sequel to 2014’s breakout hit) takes on 13 Hours (aka Michael Bay’s Benghazi movie). I think the former will be No. 1 with $40 million, while the latter will take the second spot with $30 million. Either way, Star Wars won’t be No. 1 anymore.

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About Kip Mooney

Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.

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