Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Box office hits and misses: ‘Rogue One’ is now the second biggest movie of 2016

box office weekend holiday rogue one a star wars story 0056
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The new year is already looking like a good one for Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm, as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story rode a massive four-day holiday weekend to become the second-highest grossing movie of 2016 after just its third weekend in theaters.

The Star Wars stand-alone film raked in an additional $64.3 million over the extended New Year’s holiday weekend to give it just shy of $440 million in U.S. theaters so far. That impressive weekend pushed it past Captain America: Civil War into second place on the 2016 domestic box-office rankings for the year, not too far behind the $486.2 million earned by Finding Dory.

Recommended Videos

It’s still relatively early in Rogue One‘s theatrical run, but the movie has already generated more than $789.7 million in ticket sales worldwide despite not opening in China — the second-largest movie market in the world — until January 6. At this point, it’s the seventh highest-grossing film of 2016 worldwide, and will likely move higher up that chart in the weeks to come. The movie is still going strong in the U.S., too, so there’s a good chance it could challenge Finding Dory for the top position.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

If Rogue One continues its strong run, it could give Disney and Lucasfilm two straight years of having the top movie both domestically  and worldwide, and two straight years of having a Star Wars movie dominate the global box office.

# Title 4-Day Weekend U.S. Total Worldwide Total
1. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story $64.3M $439.7M $789.7M
2. Sing $56.4M $180M $277.8M
3. Passengers $20.7M $66M $126M
4. Moana $14.3M $213.3M $402.4M
5. Why Him? $13M $37.5M $51.9M
6. Fences $12.7M $32.4M $32.4M
7. La La Land $12.3M $37M $64.8M
8. Assassin’s Creed $10.8M $41.9M $86M
9. Manchester by the Sea $5.4M $29.6M $30.7M
10. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them $5.4M $225.4M $776.8M

As for the rest of the holiday weekend’s top 10 movies, Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment’s animated feature Sing continued its strong run in theaters by adding another $56.4 million in the U.S. and bringing its domestic gross $180 million — which isn’t too shabby for a film that cost $75 million to make. Although the musical feature had the lowest opening of all Illumination’s films so far, positive buzz seems to be helping the film make up some ground and give it some strong weekends behind Rogue One.

The rest of the weekend’s top 10 films were all returning movies, with sci-fi thriller Passengers adding another $20.7 million to its somewhat underwhelming run and Disney’s animated feature Moana experiencing a healthy spike in ticket sales over the holiday weekend to bring its U.S. total to $213.3 million. As is usual around this time of year, a trio of films generating considerable award buzz appeared among the weekend’s top 10 movies, with Manchester by the Sea, Fences, and La La Land each bringing in audiences in the lead-up to the major award shows.

This upcoming weekend is a relatively quiet one for movies, with the supernatural action sequel Underworld: Blood Wars hitting theaters the same week as Hidden Figures, director Theodore Melfi’s drama that follows the three African-American women who played key roles in sending astronaut John Glenn into orbit and around the Earth in 1962.

Rick Marshall
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
3 underrated Amazon Prime Video movies you should watch this weekend (December 20-22)
Jeff Goldblum and Laurence Fishburne in Deep Cover (1992)

The holiday season is here, and with it comes plenty of stress. If you're looking to unwind, the best way to do that might be to find some time to watch a movie. Once you've done that, though, you've still got to pick the film you want to watch. That alone can be as stressful as buying Christmas gifts.

There are plenty of great titles on Amazon Prime Video, but narrowing in on the one you want can be a challenge. That's why we've got you covered with three underrated titles that are all worth your time. Whichever one you decide to watch, you probably won't regret it.

Read more
3 great free movies to stream this weekend (December 20-22)
Timothée Chalamet holds a cane in Wonka.

This weekend, more than ever, is the time to take your family to the theaters. Mufasa: The Lion King and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 are opening on December 20. Both movies are expected to gross over $50 million domestically. With the Christmas and New Year holidays approaching, both movies should see a lot of business between now and January 1.

Holidays are also a time to stay home and watch movies. After spending money on presents, save a few bucks by streaming a free movie on a FAST service. On a FAST service, users must watch ads during their feature presentation, but it doesn't cost a dime, so that's a positive. If you need a recommendation, check out these three movies, including a 1990s thriller, a family musical, and a laugh-out-loud comedy.

Read more
3 great Hulu movies you need to stream this weekend (December 20-22)
Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

If you've been watching your calendars, then you know this is the penultimate weekend of 2024, and the last before Christmas. While you may have to do some last-minute shopping or errands, Hulu has plenty of films to keep you entertained when you get home. If you're feeling especially festive, you may want to catch the best Christmas movies on Hulu, one of which also landed on our list of the three great Hulu movies that you need to stream this weekend.

Our first selection of the week is an underrated horror film that hit theaters earlier this year, followed by one of our favorite Christmas movies, as well as Hugh Jackman's greatest musical to date.

Read more