We all knew it was going to happen. It had already broken pre-sale records and the websites that sell tickets, but good god. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” broke damn near every record. “Jurassic World” managed to hang on to Biggest Saturday and Biggest International however TFA didn’t open in China, which would have easily added that.
Also amazing, an Alvin and the Chipmunks sequel managed to make $14 million. I’m not sure how but it did!
| Rank | Title | Studio | Weekend Gross | % Change | Budget* | Week # | |||||
| 1 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | BV | $247,966,675 | – | – | 1 | |||||
| 2 | Alvin and the Chipmunks The Road Chip | Fox | $14,287,159 | – | – | 1 | |||||
| 3 | Sisters | Uni. | $13,922,855 | – | $30 | 1 | |||||
| 4 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | LGF | $5,892,683 | -48.4% | $160 | 5 | |||||
| 5 | Creed | WB (NL) | $5,013,055 | -50.5% | $35 | 4 | |||||
A quick note on budgets and dollar figures:
Films making back their budgets is a good sign, but that is just the money to film. It doesn’t include distribution and marketing. Marketing can cost as much as a film. That big Superbowl spot is spendy. So take that into account when judging a film’s success. Hitting $100 million isn’t the same as it once was.
All dollar amounts in the top 5 come from estimates based on ticket sales unless noted otherwise. Occasionally this article will be published when actual results come out, which is usually late Monday afternoon. For more about this and other ins and outs of movie tracking click here.