1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (review here)- $238M
After breaking the Thursday preview record with $57M, then the single day haul with $120M, the question wasn't if Star Wars: The Force Awakens would top Jurassic World's opening weekend record of $208M. It was a question of how much it would beat it by. The answer is by a significant margin as the film opened with an unbelievable $238M. That's bolstered by a whopping $38M in IMAX sales alone, which also happens to be a new record. Worldwide its $517M falls just short of Jurassic World, but does chances are Star Wars will win out in the long run. So how far will this go? Will it best Avatar and Titanic to be the highest grossing domestic film ever? That's a good question, and not even the Force can predict how things are going to. But with an 'A' Cinemascore and a killer 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, the expectation is there will be tons of repeat viewings for a very long time, and they'll likely be in IMAX and 3D. So while the early analysis says it won't break into the Top 2, it would also be foolish to think it an impossibility. Yoda might have something to say about thinking that way.
2. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (review here)- $14.4M
Wait, there were movies that dared open opposite Star Wars? What on earth were they thinking? Well, they were thinking "counter-programming", but since Star Wars appeals to women and kids as much as it does nerdy dudes, neither effort to lure away audiences found much success. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip opened with a meager $14.4M, the lowest of the four (!!!!) movies thus far. Hey look, these movies have earned over $1.1B worldwide so there's a reason for their existence, it's just nothing was going to hold up against the might of the Dark Side, not even Theodore and his pizza toots. That said, there does seem to be diminishing interest in the franchise. The last film, 2011's 'Chipwrecked' (uggghh, the puns), earned the least of the bunch up to that point.
3. Sisters (review here)- $13.4M
Seriously, can't Amy Poehler and Tina Fey beat a bunch of irritating singing chipmunks? Apparently not as their new party comedy, Sisters, opened with only $13.4M. On the plus side it only cost about $30M and there's a good chance they recoup that, but the film wasn't very good and may not stick around too long despite our love of the two funny ladies.
4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay-Part 2- $5.6M/$254.4M
5. Creed- $5M/$87.9M
6. The Good Dinosaur- $4.3M/$96.6M
7. Krampus- $3.7M/$34.8M
8. In the Heart of the Sea- $3.4M/$18.6M
Admit it, you already forgot this movie exists. It's okay, the proof is in the numbers. Ron Howard's whaling epic got sent to Davy Jones' Locker with a huge 68% drop in only week two. Thar she blows!!!
9. Dilwale- $1.8M
A Hindi romantic comedy that I've heard passing reference to, but didn't expect to be doing as well as it is. But the interesting thing is that it's only the first of two Indian films in the charts.
10. Bajirao Mastani- $1.6M
Talk about sneaky marketing, to open a pair of Hindi films on the same weekend as the biggest movie of the year. Historical drama Bajirao Mastani opened with an impressive $1.6M. Combined with Dilwale this was a big statement for Indian movies in this country. This film stars the popular Deepika Padukone, who was recently hand picked by Vin Diesel for his XXX sequel.
