*“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” has earned over $400m since its release 20 days ago, and is expected to rule the box office for the third weekend in a row.
Meanwhile, audiences are showing interest in another space movie, the Oscar hopeful “Hidden Figures” — but it’s unlikely the turn out will top the fanboy craze that makes the Star Wars franchise so successful.
The real-life space-race drama centers on a team of black, female mathematicians and engineers working for NASA during the Mercury and Apollo missions. The Los Angeles Times reports that the film “is expected to gross $20 million or more Friday through Sunday in the U.S. and Canada, according to people who have reviewed pre-release audience surveys.”
The publication also notes how box office earnings may be good enough to finish in second place behind “Rogue One” — a strong start given the picture’s modest $25-million budget.
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20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment, the studios behind the film, are projecting $15 million to $17 million for the wide-release debut. “Hidden Figures” already had a limited run, taking in an impressive $2.6 million so far from 25 theaters since Christmas Day.
This weekend the film will expand to about 2,400 locations, and the studios hope it will benefit from strong reviews and the film’s black star power: Octavia Spencer (“The Help”), Taraji P. Henson (“Empire”) and Janelle Monae (“Moonlight”), plus Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst, and music by Pharrell Williams.
One thing is for certain, “Hidden Figures” won’t top “Rogue One,” which has grossed $440.9 million in the U.S. and Canada, making it the second-biggest domestic movie of 2016 behind Disney’s “Finding Dory.”
The global box office for “Rogue One” has exceeded $800 million with its release in China still to come this weekend.
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