Disney’s Lucasfilm prequel “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” easily took first place at the box office during its opening weekend, earning an estimated $155 million domestically — just ahead of expectations.
Counting international returns, the hotly anticipated “Star Wars” movie earned $290.5 million globally as it opened in all major territories abroad, except for China and South Korea.
The second “Star Wars” movie to come out since Disney acquired Lucasfilm stars Felicity Jones as rebellion leader Jyn Erso.
Directed by Gareth Edwards, the “Star Wars” prequel also stars Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed, Jiang Wen and Forest Whitaker.
Other new and expanding titles played in the massive shadow cast by “Rogue One”:
Will Smith’s holiday drama “Collateral Beauty” made an estimated $7 million from 3,028 locations, nearly half of initial estimates of $12 million from both trackers and distributors at Warner Bros.
“Manchester by the Sea” has expanded in its fifth weekend, earning an estimated $3.2 million from 366 screens for a total cumulative of $8.3 million.
“Manchester” also has a lot of awards season heat behind it, as star Casey Affleck won the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor on Sunday.
