The new “Star Wars” movie has opened in the number one spot around the world, as “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was on track to sell $155 million in tickets by the end of Sunday.
“This strong start portends a long a prosperous run well into 2017,” said movie industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
The movie opened in the number one spot in every market in the world except in Korea and China, where it will release in the next weeks.
Another Disney release, “Moana,” was a strong second place with $11.7 million in projected weekend sales, according to studio figures collected by comScore. In its four weeks of domestic showings, it has sold $161.9 million in tickets.
The raunchy “Office Christmas Party” counter-programmed its way into third place, with an $8.5 million weekend and $31.5 million in receipts estimated for its two-week run.
“Collateral Beauty” opened in fourth place, with a $7 million debut.
The latest Harry Potter spinoff, “Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them,” is on track for a $5 million weekend, and has banked $207.7 million domestically over five weeks.
Two contenders for Best Picture Oscars were in fifth and sixth place: “Manchester By The Sea” was projected to do $4.2 million in business this weekend, as it widens its distribution.
And “La La Land” will gross $4 million on just 200 screens.
Rounding out the 10 most-popular movies this week, as estimated by the studios, were “Arrival” ($2.8 million), “Doctor Strange” ($2 million) and “Nocturnal Animals” ($1.4 million)
— City News Service
