Thebox officehas been dominated by Lionsgate’sThe Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2over the past four weekends, with newcomers likeKrampusand last weekend’sIn the Heart of the Seafailing to take down this franchise finale. This weekend, there are three new movies hitting theaters, but all eyes will be on just one, Disney’s highly-anticipatedStar Wars: The Force Awakens, which is expected to break box office records. Universal’sSistersand 20th Century Fox’sAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipare sharing their debut with this behemoth, but according to the box office projections fromPro.BoxOffice.com, they naturally won’t come close to this newStar Warsadventure.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which held its world premiere in Hollywood last night, is projected to take in a whopping $223 million in its first weekend. If this projection is accurate, it will be more than enough to break the all time record for largest opening weekend, set earlier this year byJurassic Worldwith $208.8 million. Earlier projections putStar Wars: The Force Awakensat $300 million for its first weekend in theaters, and it has already set a record for highestadvance ticket sales, with over $50 million in tickets sold. That record was set last month, breakingThe Dark Knight Rises' record of $25 million. That $50 million tally has surely gotten bigger since then, but we don’t have any updated figures as of yet.Pro.BoxOffice.comis also projecting thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenswill earn $790 million during its domestic box office run, which is more than enough to breakAvatar’s all time record of $760.5 million. It’s also completely possible thatStar Wars: The Force AwakensbreaksAvatar’s global record of $2.7 billion as well, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Star Wars: The Force Awakenswill introduce three new heroes into theStar Warsuniverse,John Boyega’s Finn,Daisy Ridley’s Rey andOscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, along withAdam Driver’s villainous Kylo Ren.Mark Hamill(Luke Skywalker),Harrison Ford(Han Solo) andCarrie Fisherare also reprising their iconic roles from the original trilogy, although very little is known about their characters. TheStar Wars: The Force Awakenssupporting cast includesDomhnall Gleesonas General Hux,Lupita Nyong’oas Maz Kanata,Gwendoline Christieas Captain Phasma,Andy Serkisas Supreme Leader Snoke andMax von Sydowas an unidentified character.
Universal’sSistersand 20th Century Fox’sAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipwill take a distant second and third place this weekend, with $13.5 million and $10.5 million, respectively. While official theater counts haven’t been determined yet,Star Wars: The Force Awakensis expected to open in more than 3,900 theaters, withAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipdebuting in 3,600 theaters andSistersarriving in roughly 2,900 theaters.Sisterscurrently sits at a healthy 87% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although no reviews are in yet forStar Wars: The Force AwakensandAlvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip. Rounding out the top 5 will be The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 with an estimated $7.5 million andThe Good Dinosaurwith a projected $6.1 million.
Tina FeyandAmy Poehlerreunite forSistersabout two disconnected sisters summoned home to clean out their childhood bedroom before their parents sell the family house. Looking to recapture their glory days, they throw one final high-school-style party for their classmates, which turns into the cathartic rager that a bunch of ground-down adults really need. The supporting cast includesMaya Rudolph,John Leguizamo,Madison Davenport, Heather Matarazzo,John Cena,James BrolinandDianne Wiest.Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chipcenters on Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) coming to believe that Dave (Jason Lee) is going to propose to his new girlfriend in New York City…and dump them. They have three days to get to him and stop the proposal, saving themselves not only from losing Dave but possibly from gaining a terrible stepbrother. The supporting cast includesBella ThorneandTony Hale.
Rounding out the top 10 will beCreed($6 million),In the Heart of the Sea($5.3 million),Krampus($4.9 million),Spectre($2.8 million) andThe Night Before($2.1 million). Also opening in limited release is Lionsgate’sExtraction, Magnolia’s The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun, Well Go USA’sMojin: The Lost Legendand Sony Pictures Classics Son of Saul, which is one of the top contenders for the Best Foreign Language Picture at the Oscars this year. No specific theater counts were given for any of these platform releases, and it isn’t known if there are plans to expand them nationwide.
Looking ahead to next weekend, Christmas Day falls on Friday this year, bringing four new movies in wide release, Sony’sConcussionstarringWill Smith, Paramount’sDaddy’s HomestarringMark WahlbergandWill Ferrell, 20th Century Fox’sJoystarringJennifer Lawrence,Bradley CooperandRobert De Niro, and Warner Bros.‘Point Break, starringLuke BraceyandEdgar Ramirez. Paramount’sThe Big Shortwill also expand nationwide on Wednesday, December 23. Opening in limited release is The Weinstein Company’sThe Hateful Eight, which opens with a unique roadshow event before expanding nationwide on December 31, 20th Century Fox’sThe Revenant, set to expand on January 8, and Sundance Selects’ 45 Years. Take a look at the projected top 10 for the weekend of December 18, and check back on Sunday for the box office estimates.
