UPDATE 1-Box Office: 'Star Wars' Crosses $1 Billion Globally at Record Pace

(Adds other movies)
By Brent Lang
LOS ANGELES, Dec 27 (Variety.com) - "Star Wars: The Force
Awakens" showed few signs of flagging over Christmas weekend,
barreling past the $1 billion mark globally at a faster clip
than any film in history.
It's becoming old hat to recount the various ways that the
seventh film in the science-fiction fantasy is vaporizing
records, but, familiar or not, "The Force Awakens" once again
ground down high-water marks over the holidays, racking up
$153.5 million domestically.
That represents both the biggest Christmas holiday result
and the best second weekend for a film in history. Domestically,
"The Force Awakens" has grossed a mammoth $544.6 million.
Worldwide that figure is nearly $1.1 billion. The "Star Wars"
sequel crossed $1 billion in twelve days, something it took the
previous record-holder, "Jurassic World," thirteen days to
accomplish.
The three-day holiday should also rank as biggest Christmas
weekend overall in history beating the $269.8 million in 2009,
which saw the launch of "Sherlock Holmes" and the second weekend
of "Avatar," the box office titan that "The Force Awakens" hopes
to surpass as the highest-grossing film in history.
Despite the furor surrounding the return of the Jedi, a few
films managed to score with yuletide ticket buyers.
Paramount reunited "The Other Guys" stars Will Ferrell and
Mark Wahlberg in the comedy "Daddy's Home" with strong results.
The look at a stepfather's attempts to outshine his wife's stud
of a first husband, came in second with a strong $38.8 million
from 3,271 theaters. That was far above projections which had
the picture opening in the $20 million range. "Daddy's Home"
carries a $50 million budget.
Fox also scored with "Joy," a rag-tag biopic about the
creator of the Miracle Mop,' that earned $17.5 million from
2,896 theaters. The $60 million film reunites the "Silver
Linings Playbook" team of Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, and
Bradley Cooper with director David O. Russell. It is expected to
be a leading Oscar contender.
But "Point Break," a remake of the 1991 Kathryn Bigelow cult
favorite, wiped out. The $105 million action flick eked out
$10.2 million from 2,910 venues. The Chinese-American
co-production will look abroad for salvation. It has earned a
solid $40 million in China, where it opened on Dec. 3. Warner
Bros., which has had a horrific year at the box office, can at
least content itself with the fact that it's only a gun for hire
on this one. Alcon Entertainment and DMG Entertainment financed
"Point Break."
Sony's Will Smith NFL drama "Concussion" nabbed $11 million
across 2,841 locations. L Star Capital and Village Roadshow
co-financed "Concussion," which has a $35 million budget.
In its second weekend of release, Universal's "Sisters"
barely dropped from its debut, picking up $13.9 million to drive
the Tina Fey and Amy Poehler comedy's North American haul to
$37.2 million. Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip"
also showed some endurance, adding $12.7 million to its $39.4
million domestic gross.
Paramount's "The Big Short" expanded from eight theaters to
1,585 locations on Wednesday, picking up $14.5 million for the
five day period. Its gross stands at just over $16 million and a
further expansion is planned for Jan. 8, at which point the
comedy about the financial collapse will be in roughly 2,500
theaters.
In limited release, the Weinstein Company's 70 MM "road
show" version of "The Hateful Eight" racked up a sturdy $4.6
million from 100 locations for a $45,365 per-screen average.
Fox's "The Revenant" also did well in a handful of theaters.
The blood-drenched revenge epic picked up $471,000 from four
locations, for a per-screen average of $117,750. That's the
second best average of the year, behind only "Steve Jobs" with
$130,381. But "The Revenant" will need to resonate with
mainstream crowds if it hopes to recoup its $135 million budget
-- something "Steve Jobs" failed to do. Leonardo DiCaprio stars
in the film as a wilderness guide abandoned by his colleagues
after a savage bear attack.