Hollywood couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate the new year. The calendar may have changed, but Star Wars: The Force Awakens continued to blast past records and is now the top-grossing film form 2015. It won the box office for the third consecutive weekend, although other films continue to reap the holiday rewards.
The Force Awakens earned another $88.3 million this weekend, bringing its domestic revenue to $740.2 million after just 17 days in theaters. It took Avatar 72 days to reach that same mark, notes Box Office Mojo. It has hit $1.51 billion worldwide, making it the sixth-highest grossing film of all time and is only $20 million behind Avatar on the all-time list for North America. (Avatar grossed $760.5 million in North America during its run and is the only other film to gross over $700 million domestically.)
The film might have earned even more than predicted on Sunday afternoon. Box Office Mojo notes that it might have hit $91 million, which would give it the biggest January weekend in history. Nevertheless, $88 million is still the biggest third weekend in history.
Meanwhile, Paramount’s Daddy’s Home, with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, has been a sleeper hit. The comedy has grossed $93.6 million since it was released on Christmas Day, with $29 million of that coming this weekend, according to Rentrak estimates.
Coming in third is Quentin Taranitno’s The Hateful Eight (reviewed here), which grossed $16.2 million in its wide release. The film’s total is now $29.6 million, including the 70mm limited release that started on Christmas Day. It will be tested next weekend when another three-hour epic, Alejandro G. Inarritu’s The Revenant hits theaters.
The Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy Sisters has also been doing well quietly, adding $12.6 million this weekend. It has grossed $61.7 million since it was released on the same day as The Force Awakens.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip made $11.8 million, bringing its total to $67.3 million. That likely means that Fox will make a fifth Alvin movie to torture parents with.
Joy ($10.4 million); The Big Short ($9 million); Concussion ($8 million); Point Break ($6.8 million); and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 ($4.6 million) rounded out the Top 10.