1. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (review)- $155M
To nobody's surprise, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story opened at #1 with $155M. But that's just on the domestic side of things. Worldwide the Star Wars spinoff, a prequel to Episode IV centering on the rebel plot to steal the Death Star plans, opened with a massive $290M. Some will knock that those numbers are pretty average for the way blockbusters turn out nowadays, but it's a big deal when one considers that it's a standalone effort. Spinoffs and one-shots never fair as well as the "core" movies. For example, 'The Force Awakens' killed it a year ago with $247M domestic, on its way to over $2B overall. 'Rogue One' won't come close to those numbers but it doesn't have to and was never expected to. If this is what Disney/Lucasfilm have to look forward to every other year they will be quite happy.
2. Moana- $11.6M/$161.8M
3. Office Christmas Party- $8.4M/$31.5M
4. Collateral Beauty (review)- $7M
The collateral damage caused by the Rogue One dominance landed fully on Collateral Beauty. The star-studded drama gave Will Smith his worst opening weekend ever with $7M, at least if we're considering wide releases that he is the definite lead. The film does feature a stellar cast of Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Edward Norton, Naomie Harris, and Michael Pena, so it's not without wattage to drive in audiences. And last year's success of Sisters showed that you can open opposite Star Wars and still make bank. But Collateral Beauty just didn't look very good, and when they didn't want to make it available for awards consideration we had all the evidence that it wasn't. The reviews have been brutal, too, something Smith should be used to after that whole Suicide Squad experience. At least that one clicked at the box office and will likely land Smith a Deadshot franchise.
5. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them- $5M/$207.6M
6. Manchester by the Sea- $4.1M/$14M
7. La La Land- $4M/$5.2M
In case you haven't heard, La La Land is probably going to win Best Picture. The Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone musical is being treated like a frontrunner as audiences flock to see it in platform release. The film expanded to 200 theaters and earned $4M, continuing an impressive run that began the prior week. The $30M feature should do well when it goes into wide release soon.
8. Arrival- $2.7M/$86.4M
9. Doctor Strange- $2M/$226M
10. Nocturnal Animals- $1.3M/$8.8M
