Weekend Box Office Report: December 23-26, 2016

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Rogue One rules Christmas!

The Empire and their rebellious adversaries marched into first place again over the holiday, putting ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY on top with an estimated $96 million for the four-day weekend!

The STAR WARS prequel from director Gareth Edwards pulled in $63.4 million just for the Friday-Sunday period, a 58% descent from its opening last week.

With the Monday estimates included, the $200 million heist of Death Star plans has a domestic total climbing to $318 million over eleven days in theaters, with a worldwide total over half a billion.

Opening in second place was the new animated musical SING with $56 million for the four-day period. The latest from DESPICABLE ME and MINIONS makers Illumination Entertainment has a domestic total of $76.6 million since its debut on Wednesday.

The crooning creatures (who cost a reported $75 million) were sufficiently enjoyable for the majority of critics, who gave it a 72% average on Rotten Tomatoes. You can read the JoBlo review HERE.

In third place was the new sci-fi journey PASSENGERS with $23.1 million from Friday-Monday. The Chris Pratt/Jennifer Lawrence pairing, which cost a reported $110 million, has a domestic total of $30.4 million since it launched into space on Wednesday.

The A-listers' romantic cruise into the cosmos (from THE IMITATION GAME director Morten Tyldum) didn't endear critics, who gave it an average of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. The JoBlo review can be found HERE.

Opening in fourth place was the new R-rated comedy WHY HIM? with $16.7 million over the four-day weekend. The $38 million holiday duel between Bryan Cranston and James Franco received a 41% critical average on Rotten Tomatoes, and you can check out the JoBlo review HERE.

The new videogame adaptation ASSASSIN'S CREED plunged into fifth place with a four-day grab of $15 million, and a $22.4 million total since it took the leap into theaters on Wednesday.

Considering that the PG-13 partial-period action movie from star/producer Michael Fassbender cost a reported $125 million, it will need a healthy performance overseas if there's to be any hope of continuing the killer saga on the big screen (although fans can take solace that the game series will surely keep cranking out new entries for the foreseeable future).

Critics mostly shrugged at the humorless time-jumping tale of Templars and murderers with a dreary 19% on Rotten Tomatoes. The JoBlo review is HERE.

Denzel Washington's drama FENCES expanded wide on Christmas Day and caught $11.3 million for sixth place. The $24 million directing effort from the actor, who stars with Viola Davis, has been well-received by critics with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

The rest of the Top 10 consisted of previous releases, with Disney's MOANA earning another $10.4 million over the holiday for seventh place. The Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone musical LA LA LAND continued to enchant audiences in eighth with $9.7 million as it danced to a domestic total of $17.5 million.

The R-rated comedy OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY spent Christmas weekend in ninth with another $7.2 million, and Will Smith's holiday drama COLLATERAL BEAUTY hung on in tenth with $7 million.

Outside the chart, FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM made room for the new releases along with ARRIVAL, DOCTOR STRANGE, NOCTURNAL ANIMALS and the Casey Affleck drama MANCHESTER BY THE SEA.

It was a busy time for limited releases, with director Martin Scorsese's religious drama SILENCE drawing attention with a $45k per-screen average. PATRIOT'S DAY, the Mark Wahlberg/Peter Berg account of the Boston Marathon bombing, also made an impact with a $34k per-screen average, and the Taraji P. Henson/Octavia Spencer NASA drama HIDDEN FIGURES attracted $955k at 25 locations for a strong per-screen average of $38k.

Not faring quite so well were Ben Affleck's period crime story LIVE BY NIGHT with a $14k per-screen average and the Liam Neeson tree fantasy A MONSTER CALLS with a per-screen average of $10k.

Next weekend lets the current line-up battle for audiences over the New Year's holiday, with the Adam Driver drama PATERSON opening in limited release.

What was your favorite movie of 2016? VOTE HERE!