'Rogue One' blasts to top of box office with $155 million

The Associated Press
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Will Smith, right, and Helen Mirren in a scene from "Collateral Beauty." (Barry Wetcher/Warner Bros. via AP)

"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" blasted into theaters Thursday night and flew straight to the top of the box office with $155 million in ticket sales.

It's the second biggest December opening for any film, behind "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which debuted to $247.9 million last year at this time.

"Rogue One" scored the best Thursday night preview of the year. Set before the events of the original 1977 "Star Wars," it opened at No. 1 in all markets globally, except for China and Korea, where it has yet to premiere.

The film knocked three-week box-office champ "Moana" to a distant second place with $12.7 million, followed by "Office Christmas Party" with $8.6 million. The weekend's other new wide release, the Will Smith drama "Collateral Beauty," debuted in fourth place with $7.1 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by comScore:

1. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," Disney, $155,081,681, 4,157 locations, $37,306 average, $155,081,681, 1 week.

2. "Moana," Disney, $12,726,232, 3,587 locations, $3,548 average, $162,920,977, 4 weeks.

3. "Office Christmas Party," Paramount, $8,587,528, 3,210 locations, $2,675 average, $31,655,795, 2 weeks.

4. "Collateral Beauty," Warner Bros., $7,102,085, 3,028 locations, $2,345 average, $7,102,085, 1 week.

5. "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them," Warner Bros., $5,071,323, 3,036 locations, $1,670 average, $207,722,418, 5 weeks.

6. "Manchester By The Sea," Roadside Attractions, $4,244,014, 1,208 locations, $3,513 average, $14,104,319, 5 weeks.

7. "La La Land," Lionsgate, $4,102,091, 200 locations, $20,510 average, $5,342,257, 2 weeks.

8. "Arrival," Paramount, $2,972,958, 2,157 locations, $1,378 average, $86,666,325, 6 weeks.

9. "Doctor Strange," Disney, $2,210,912, 1,930 locations, $1,146 average, $226,260,939, 7 weeks.

10. "Nocturnal Animals," Focus Features, $1,407,088, 1,246 locations, $1,129 average, $8,828,454, 5 weeks.

11. "Trolls," 20th Century Fox, $1,370,880, 1,714 locations, $800 average, $147,426,817, 7 weeks.

12. "Allied," Paramount, $1,323,176, 1,625 locations, $814 average, $38,532,093, 4 weeks.

13. "Hacksaw Ridge," Lionsgate, $956,516, 1,341 locations, $713 average, $62,854,620, 7 weeks.

14. "Almost Christmas," Universal, $608,555, 720 locations, $845 average, $41,208,485, 6 weeks.

15. "Jackie," Fox Searchlight, $573,645, 84 locations, $6,829 average, $1,616,380, 3 weeks.

16. "Miss Sloane," EuropaCorp, $448,555, 1,463 locations, $307 average, $3,188,191, 4 weeks.

17. "Moonlight," A24, $378,081, 305 locations, $1,240 average, $11,479,755, 9 weeks.

18. "Bad Santa 2," Broad Green Pictures, $236,766, 414 locations, $572 average, $17,544,512, 4 weeks.

19. "Loving," Focus Features, $217,182, 396 locations, $548 average, $7,111,424, 7 weeks.

20. "Incarnate," High Top Releasing, $184,105, 318 locations, $579 average, $4,723,514, 3 weeks.

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by 21st Century Fox; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.