Though it looked for a brief moment as though Alejandro González Iñárritu's new revenge drama The Revenant might finally be the film to topple Star Wars: The Force Awakens as the former started to lose ground at the US box office, the space opera's latest instalment surged back to win a fourth weekend with a studio-estimated $41.6 million.
Continuing to snap records – The Force Awakens is now the highest grossing film in US domestic history (though it's still 15th on the adjusted chart that adds interest and re-releases for older films) and third worldwide – J.J. Abrams' movie is soaring above the rest, a huge success with more than $812 million in the States alone and likely to hit a billion before it is finished on release there. Globally, thanks to a healthy $52.6 million from its launch in China, the movie has made more than $1.7 billion, taking firm aim at Titanic and Avatar in terms of worldwide earnings. It'll need to hit more than $2 billion to strike at either.
The Revenant certainly did impressive work, however, ramping up its release by adding 3,371 cinema screens for the next stage of its platform release and on the back of plenty of award nominations and wins. The based-on-truth story of a man (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) who is mauled by a bear in the harsh wilderness in the 1820s, is left for dead but fights for survival and vengeance against those who wronged him, is now Iñárritu's second most successful film after Birdman. It won the box office battle on Friday but couldn't quite convert that into a weekend win, but still bumped its US total to $39.5 million.
Still, it shoved Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg's comedy reunion Daddy's Home down to third, with the movie earning $15 million this weekend for a running total of $116.3 million. Natalie Dormer-starring horror thriller The Forest tried its hand in the usually quiet early January territory, but could only manage a fourth place launch and $13 million to start with. Yet with a relatively low $10 million budget, it has less ground to cover. Fifth place went to Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's latest, Sisters, which earned $7.7 million.
Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight clocked up its third weekend on release and saw additional screens as the roadshow continued and more traditional showings geared up. The movie made $6.35 million this weekend for a $41.4 million total so far. Adam McKay's The Big Short held on to seventh place with $6.3 million while Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip sank further down the charts, earning $5.5 million in eighth, albeit notching up $75.6 million so far. It's still the least successful of the current CG/live-action Chipmunks movies to date, so perhaps the time has come for them to go away for a while?
David O. Russell's Joy fell to ninth after three weeks on release, adding $4.5 million for a $46.55 million total, while Concussion dipped a couple of places to 10th and $3 million.