“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” led the North American box office for a third straight weekend over the extended New Year’s holiday, taking in $64.3 million in ticket sales for exhibitors and Walt Disney Co.
“Sing,” an animated feature from Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, placed second with sales of $56.4 million, researcher ComScore said Monday in a statement. “Passengers,” the sci-fi adventure from Sony Corp., landed in third place with revenue of $20.7 million. There were no new films opening in wide release.
“Rogue One” marks another successful extension of the “Star Wars” series for Disney, which has also enjoyed successes this year with films from its Pixar, Marvel and flagship studio divisions. Disney pictures including “Finding Dory,” “Captain America” and “The Jungle Book” have helped North American theaters set a new revenue record this year, with sales reaching $11.4 billion, according to estimates from ComScore.
“Rogue One,” a prequel to the original 1977 “Star Wars,” was expected to produce $82 million in domestic weekend sales through Monday, according to analysts at BoxOfficePro.com, another researcher. The film has generated $774.9 million worldwide through Sunday, ComScore said.
BoxOfficePro estimated $55 million in domestic revenue for “Sing,” about a koala trying to restore his theater to its former glory. The researcher was estimating $22.6 million for “Passengers,” a space adventure featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.
- Bloomberg