'Rogue One' wins box office again: How 'Star Wars' movie conquered the holiday season
'Rogue One' came in first at the box office for the third weekend in a row, demonstrating the power of the 'Star Wars' name when paired with good reviews.
'Rogue One' stars Donnie Yen.
Jonathan Olley/Lucasfilm Ltd./AP
The rebels of 鈥淩ogue One鈥� continued to rule over the box office this past weekend, with the latest "Star Wars" film coming in at number one for the third time in a row, cementing its status as the biggest hit of the 2016 holiday season.
鈥淩ogue,鈥� originally released on Dec. 16, grossed more than $64 million domestically this weekend, which was a four-day stretch because of the New Year鈥檚 holiday. 鈥淩ogue鈥� takes place before the original 1970s 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� trilogy and stars Felicity Jones and Diego Luna as members of a band of rebels who attempt to obtain the plans for the Empire鈥檚 Death Star.聽
Meanwhile, the animated movie 鈥淪ing,鈥� which is the latest from Universal鈥檚 Illumination Entertainment, placed second after having opened on Dec. 21, taking in $56 million this past weekend.聽
The science fiction movie 鈥淧assengers,鈥� which stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence and also opened earlier in December, came in third, grossing more than $20 million this past weekend, while the Disney animated movie 鈥淢oana,鈥� a holdover from November, placed fourth, grossing $14 million.聽
The comedy 鈥淲hy Him?,鈥� which came out in late December, placed fifth, grossing $13 million.聽
With its third straight win at the box office, 鈥淩ogue鈥� has proven again its status as the holiday season鈥檚 biggest winner. Already, it is the second-highest-grossing film of the year, second only to the Pixar animated movie 鈥淔inding Dory鈥� (also released by Disney, interestingly enough).
What enabled 鈥淩ogue鈥� to become the holiday season movie champion?
One should doubtless never have a lack of faith in the power of the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� name. called the movie a 鈥渇amiliar favorite.鈥澛�
And Paul Dergarabedian, comScore senior media analyst, also cited good reviews in .
鈥淚t's the second straight year that a 'Star Wars' film has owned New Year's," Mr. Dergarabedian said. "It's the irresistible gravitational pull of the brand, along with 鈥楻ogue One鈥� just being a flat-out great movie.鈥�