The Revenant knocks Star Wars off top of United Kingdom box office

Daily Variety reported the comedy sequel picked up a commanding $34 million over the four-day holiday weekend.

Walt Disney Co.’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” led China’s box office for a second week, pushing ticket sales in the world’s second-largest movie market past US$100 million. Some complaints about the film have revolved around a plot line that echoes that of “Star Wars: A New Hope”, with elements of all three original trilogy films thrown in for good measure. In this case, it went to third with $25.1 million for three days and a projected $31 million for four.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant, powered by 12 Oscar nominations and key wins at the Golden Globes, surged forward on its second weekend to overtake The Force Awakens with $4.6 million (€4.15 million), improving on its opening bow by 15 percent.

Michael Bay’s military thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi took fourth place with $16 million. Now, with $1.87 billion at the global box office after just five weeks, Star Wars is eyeing the records set by Cameron’s top all-time earners, Titanic ($2.19 billion) and Avatar ($2.79 billion).

After all the fanfare and a month at the top of the box office, did you have any idea this guy would take down Star Wars? When the prequels came along beginning in 1999, China’s now-booming network of cinemas was still in its infancy (despite that, the three films met with moderate success; 2005’s “Revenge of the Sith” grossed $11.7 million, considered an impressive feat at the time).

After this weekend’s haul, “The Revenant” has brought in 1 million total and it’s only been in theaters nationwide for two weeks. (The four-day estimate is not available yet.) The film has now brought its totals to $21.1 million domestically and $22.4 million worldwide; it’s still on par for around $30 million domestically by the end of its run. Bolstered by awards attention, “The Revenant” opened in first place in the United Kingdom with $7.8 million, topped charts in Korea with $5.7 million, and racked up $3 million in Italy. “The Hateful Eight”, $4.4 million. “The Last Witch Hunter”, $9.3 million. 7.