Box Office: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Barreling Towards 'Avatar's' Record

By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES, Jan 3 (Variety.com) - Having vanquished
"Titanic" and "Jurassic World," "Star Wars: The Force Awakens"
has set its sights on "Avatar."
The space opera sequel is moving up the all-time domestic
box office charts at a record clip and now is poised to overtake
those pointy eared blue aliens as the top grossing film in
history. "Avatar" earned $760.5 million during its stateside run
and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has generated $740.4 million
domestically after picking up $88.3 million over New Year's
weekend. It should take the crown from "Avatar" early next week.
Even as "The Force Awakens" commanded the bulk of box office
revenues a few films managed to profit from the holiday season.
Paramount's "Daddy's Home," a comedy about a nerdy stepfather
(Will Ferrell) who finds himself outshone by his wife's first
husband (Mark Wahlberg), picked up $29 million in its second
weekend, driving the film's domestic total to $93.7 million.
The Weinstein Company did relatively well after moving up
the wide release of "The Hateful Eight" by a week. The
revisionist western from Quentin Tarantino racked up $16.2
million to finish in third place, a solid start, though on the
lower-end for wide-release debuts from the director. "The
Hateful Eight" trails the $30.1 million launch for "Django
Unchained" or the $38 million kickoff for "Inglourious
Basterds." It has made $29.6 million since debuting in a limited
number of 70mm theaters over Christmas.
Universal's "Sisters," a Tina Fey and Amy Poehler pairing,
continued to show impressive endurance, snagging fourth place
with $12.6 million. The film has made $61.7 million in three
weeks of release, putting it ahead of Fey and Poehler's previous
teaming on "Baby Mama," which made $60.5 million during its run
in 2008.
Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip" added $11.8
million to its $67.4 million in receipts to round out the top
five. The studio also fielded "Joy," an off-beat biopic about
the creator of the Miracle Mop, which earned $10.4 million in
its second weekend to bring its total to $38.7 million.
Despite its wonky premise, "The Big Short" appears to be an
awards season breakout. The comedy about the financial crisis of
2008 earned $9 million last weekend, bringing its total to just
under $33 million. Paramount is releasing the film, which stars
Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Christian Bale as savvy
investors who bet against the housing market and won.
Sony's "Concussion" took in an estimated $8 million for,
bringing its domestic haul to $25.4 million. Will Smith stars as
a crusading doctor who takes on professional football for its
indifference to the health and safety of its players.
"Point Break," a remake of the 1991 cult favorite about
extreme sports enthusiasts who double as bank robbers, is
shaping up to be a costly dud. Financed by Alcon Entertainment
and distributed by Warner Bros., the action adventure made $6.8
million over the weekend, bringing its domestic total to $22.4
million. That's a calamitous result for a film that carries an
$105 million price tag.
Among Oscar hopefuls, "The Revenant" picked up $450,000 from
four theaters, for a hearty per-location average of $112,500.
The bloody revenge epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy
and is directed by "Birdman's" Alejandro G. Innarritu. Cast and
crew drove themselves to the breaking point filming in remote
locations -- a gamble that cost the film's backers, New Regency
and RatPac-Dune, $135 million to make. So far, "The Revenant"
has made $1.3 million. It opens nationwide next weekend.
Paramount's "Anomalisa" earned $140,000 from four locations
for a per-screen average of $35,000. The stop-motion film about
a customer service expert in the throes of an emotional crisis
was directed by Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson. It has
$215,000 since opening last Wednesday and received critical
acclaim.