'Star Wars' Wins Again While (Most) New Releases Perform Solidly

     On the second biggest weekend in history, 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' easily repeated in first place with a record-breaking second weekend while most of the new releases, wide and limited, either exceeded or performed in line with expectations.
     'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' continued taking the top spot at the box office, this time dipping just 38.1% and grossing a massive $153.5 million. That marks the biggest second weekend performance ever, flying past 'Jurassic World''s $106.6 million gross. Along with breaking the record for the biggest second weekend ever, it demolished the current record for the fastest time $500 million is acquired domestically, crossing that milestone in just 10 days ('Jurassic World' took 17 days). With a huge $544.6 million already, a finish of around $780-$830 million is very likely (although it depends on where it ends up after the holiday season is over). Overseas, 'Star Wars' passed $1 billion in record time (12 days, whereas 'Jurassic World' took 13 days). Its worldwide total is currently standing at a solid $1.09 billion, and will flirt with the $2b+ grosses of 'Avatar' and 'Titanic' by the end of its run.
      In a surprisingly solid second place debut, 'Daddy's Home' grossed an estimated $38.8 million, blowing away pre-release expectations ($14.5m-$25m). Family comedies released during Christmas generally wind up with break-out performances, and 'Daddy's Home' obviously joined them. The $50-million comedy fell a bit short of my $45 million, but it was still a solid debut nevertheless.

     The movie began with $15.7 million on Friday, dipped 16.1% on Saturday to gross $13.2 million, and is expected to fall 24.7% on Sunday and earn $9.9 million. While the weekend-to-Friday ratio (2.47-to-1) is a bit troubling, those grosses could go a bit higher once the weekend actuals come in. If actuals are in the same ballpark as the estimates, then we are looking at a solid domestic final of around $155 million. If you think that's a bit too high, than somewhere in between $125m-$130m is a bit more reasonable. Reviews (28% on Rotten Tomatoes) aren't all that great, but hopefully word-of-mouth ('B+' CinemaScore) will propel 'Daddy's Home' to a $120m+ gross, which it most likely will.

     In third place, the $60-million Jennifer Lawrence led comedy drama 'Joy' debuted to $17.5 million this weekend, which is a bit behind the nationwide opening of 'American Hustle'. Unfortunately, it is also a bit behind my $20 million prediction, as weak reviews (56% on RT) and word-of-mouth (58% on Flixter) caused its weekend performance to be a bit more front-loaded than one would expect.
     'Joy' started out with $6.9 million on Friday, dropped 13.6% on Saturday for $5.9 million, and should decline 19.9% on Sunday to earn $4.7 million. That places the weekend-to-Friday ratio at a modest 2.54-to-1. Like 'Daddy's Home', however, these numbers could go up once actuals come in. But for now, I'm predicting a finish of around $85 million, which would represent a 43.4% decrease from 'American Hustle''s $150.1 million domestic gross.
     The $30-million comedy from Universal 'Sisters' declined only 0.3% for a $13.9 million, which is basically almost unchanged from last weekend. With that very strong hold, 'Sisters' has so far grossed a strong $37.1 million, and $70 million isn't out of the question yet. In fifth place was the family comedy sequel 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip', down 11.1% from its opening for $12.7 million. Apparently, its 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes isn't doing anything to keep families away, as the $90-million feature has so far grossed a solid $39.4 million, and is currently on its way for a $75 million total.
     'Concussion', the $35-million Will Smith led football drama, modestly took sixth place with $11 million. That is a bit above last year's 'Draft Day' ($9.8m) and 'When the Game Stands Tall' ($8.4m), but way below the likes of  'The Blind Side' ($34.1m) and 'Remember the Titans' ($20.9m). It is also behind the $18.7 million debut of Will Smith's other 2015 release, 'Focus'. While concussions in the NFL are surely a very buzzed about topic right now, apparently few people were interested to see a movie about it on the big screen.
     Beginning with $4.3 million on Friday, 'Concussion' dropped 10.5% for $3.8 million on Saturday and is estimated to fall 24.5% on Sunday for $2.9 million, putting the weekend-to-Friday ratio at 2.56-to-1. Apparently, the reason all of the new nationwide releases didn't make as much as expected was probably because of their day-to-day drops over the weekend, and therefore giving them a lower weekend gross. 'Concussion' should finish in the area of $50 million.
      'The Big Short' leaped a whopping 2,681% from last weekend due to the 1,577 added theaters from Wednesday, making $10.5 million. Although that is on the lower end of expectations, 'The Big Short' still shows off an impressive performance. Add in the $4 million from Wednesday and Thursday as well as the grosses from its run in limited release, the $28-million comedy drama has so far made a strong $16 million and will likely close with around $65 million.
     Closely following it was the $105-million action remake 'Point Break', which flopped with just $10.2 million. Continuing Warner Bros.' string of end-of-the-year flops that includes 'Pan' ($35m), 'Our Brand is Crisis' ($7m), 'The 33' ($11.9m), and 'In the Heart of the Sea' ($22.4m), 'Point Break' made $4.1 million on Friday, fell 20.5% on Saturday to earn $3.3 million, and is expected to dip 14.6% for $2.8 million. The ratio here is at an unfortunate 2.49-to-1. With horrible reviews (4% on RT) and dismal word-of-mouth ('B' CinemaScore), this should flame out quickly with around $30 million. There is at least some hope, though: overseas, the total currently stands at a solid $43.2 million.
     'The Hateful Eight' proves that not even controversial comments about cops can stop fans from turning out in huge numbers. The $44-million Western from Quentin Tarantino made a strong $4.5 million this weekend for a solid $45.4k per-theater average. Reviews (76% on RT) and word-of-mouth (82% Flixter score) are fairly strong, so it should put up solid numbers before it goes wide on December 31. However, Tarantino wasn't the only popular director that enjoyed lucrative grosses. Another bloody R-rated Western, this time starring Leonardo DiCaprio, garnered a huge $117.8k per-theater average for an overall weekend of $471k, all from just 4 theaters. The $135-million revenge thriller from the director of last year's surprise hit 'Birdman', called 'The Revenant', should continue doing well, where it will hope to stand out in its nationwide expansion on January 8 where reviews (80% on RT) and word-of-mouth (87% Flixter) will try to push it past expectations.
     The Top 12 gross this weekend was the second-biggest in history, behind the historic total from last weekend. The $286.4 million total may be down 6.3% from last weekend, but the 52.8% increase from last year should be of some reassurance.
     Expect next weekend to be much quieter, where 'Star Wars' is set to three-peat against only the nationwide expansion of 'The Hateful Eight'. The weekend after that should be a bit more interesting, where the low-profile horror 'The Forest' opens against the nationwide expansion of 'The Revenant'.