In a surprise turn of events, Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens has set numerous records this weekend at the box office, with a staggering $247 million domestic cume.
The latest Star Wars earned $528 million worldwide over the weekend, and its domestic opening is the biggest opening of all time, beating out Jurassic World’s $208 million, which was set back in June.
We loved Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and you can read our review here, but the film, which has landed during awards season, did have some people on Twitter calling for a Best Picture nomination. Star Wars looks set to earn several visual effects nominations, but the stellar acting and direction, along with the clever emotional beats, won’t be enough for it to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. As per the case of Titanic and Avatar, the latest Star Wars, due to the nature of the film, will most likely have to set the box office record as the highest grossing film of all time for it to earn a nomination for Best Picture.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Trip and Sisters both finished 2nd and 3rd place respectively. The latest squeakquel earned $14.2 million while Sisters raked in $13.9 million. Given the positive word of mouth and the cultural relevance of Star Wars, it looks like the space epic will cannibalize most of the box office for a few weeks to come as Sisters and Alvin and the Chipmunks were the only two other films to crack $10 million.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2 and Creed round out the top 5 at fourth and fifth place respectively. The latest Hunger Games earned $5.8 million, and Creed nabbed $5 million over the weekend. Creed’s domestic box office total so far is $87 million, against a $35 million production budget, meaning this film thankfully became profitable before Star Wars landed. However, the latest Hunger Games, while critically favorable, has grossed the least out of the 4 in the series.
Here are the top ten films at the box office for the weekend of 12/18.
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens- $247 million
- Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Trip- $14.2 million
- Sisters- $13.9 million
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2- $5.8 million
- Creed- $5 million
- The Good Dinosaur- $4.35 million
- Krampus- $4.1 million
- In the Heart of the Sea- $3.48 million
- Dilwale- $1.92 million
- Bajirao Mastani- $1.7 million
For all your Star Wars and nerdy movie goodness, stay tuned to The Nerd Stash!
