Remember 1998, when Titanic had just been released and was the unstoppable juggernaut that couldn’t be toppled at #1. Leonardo DiCaprio was the star? Well, cut to 2016, and Star Wars is the unstoppable juggernaut, and Leonardo DiCaprio can’t top it either. That’s how big Star Wars is. The Revenant actually surprised every single box office predictor by making 38.6M over the weekend. Many thought that its runtime, or its extremely violent content, or its artsy tone would stop it from being a huge hit. Well, we were all wrong. Never deny the power of DiCaprio. Honestly, even The Forest opened above even my highest predictions. I had it at around 7M for the weekend, and I would have maybe said a high of 11-12M, and it made 13M. So, congratulations on counterprogramming. Future horror films this Spring won’t have it so easy, as there are a TON of horror films between now and May. You think I’m kidding, but I’m not.

January 22nd- The Boy
February 5th- Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
February 19th- Viral AND The Witch
March 11th- The Other Side Of The Door
March 25th- The Disappointments Room
April 1st- Rings
April 8th- Before I Wake
April 15th- Amityville: The Awakening

To counter all this devilish material, Hollywood is banging out 4 wide Christian releases. That’s a lot, and the Christian marketplace has never been tested like that before. It’ll be interesting to see if they can all be hits, or if some of them just have to fall by the wayside.

In the long run, both The Revenant and The Forest have uphill battles with audiences. The Revenant only scored a good-not-great B+, while The Forest scored a disappointing (but rather common for horror movies) C. The Forest definitely won’t have legs, as it scored the lowest cinemascore of any film in wide release, or even the Top 20. People have options right now, and only die hard horror fans will likely continue to show up.

Coming off of the Golden Globe awards this Sunday, and the Oscar nominations on Thursday, next weekend could look very different for a few films. The Oscar contenders still in wide release (The Revenant, The Hateful Eight, The Big Short, Joy, Concussion) could all see really strong holds, possibly even growth. Other films could see an increase in screen count as exhibitors scramble to add films with several nominations, mainly Best Picture. Films that have never been truly in wide release, will likely schedule a wide release at some point in January. Films like Room and Trumbo, if they sneak a Best Picture nomination, stand to gain the most in the long run.

1) Star Wars: The Force Awakens- 41.6M Weekend, 812M Total
2) The Revenant- 38.6M Weekend, 39.5M Total
3) Daddy’s Home- 15M Weekend, 116.3M Total
4) The Forest- 13M Weekend, 13M Total
5) Sisters- 7.1M Weekend, 74.8M Total
6) The Hateful Eight- 6.3M Weekend, 41.4M Total
7) The Big Short- 6.3M Weekend, 42.8M Total
8) Alvin and the Chipmunks 4- 5.5M Weekend, 75.6M Total
9) Joy- 4.5M Weekend, 46.5M Total
10) Concussion- 3.0M Weekend, 30.9M Total
11) Point Break- 2.1M Weekend, 26.7M Total
12) The Hunger Games: Mockingjay pt 2- 2.1M Weekend, 277.5M Total
13) The Good Dinosaur- 1.6M Weekend, 117.3M Total
14) Creed- 1.6M Weekend, 105.7M Total
15) Carol- 1.4M Weekend, 6.9M Total
16) Brooklyn- 1.0M Weekend, 22.4M Total
17) Spotlight- 941K Weekend, 28.5M Total
18) The Danish Girl- 826K Weekend, 7.5M Total
19) Wazir- 600K Weekend, 600K Total
20) Spectre- 405K Weekend, 198.5M Total
23) Anomalisa- 221K Weekend, 490K Total
28) 45 Years- 90K Weekend, 354K Total