Star Wars fans attend the Opening Night Celebrations of Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm's 'Rogue One: A Star Wars Story' at The TCL Chinese Theatre on Dec. 15, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo : Getty Images/Kevork Djansezian)
Lucasfilm production and Walt Disney Studios-distributed "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" is the highest-grossing film in the United States in 2016, officially displacing Disney Pixar's "Finding Dory." The former grossed almost $498.8 million at U.S. multiplexes in five weeks.
The "Star Wars" standalone movie earned $13.3 million over the weekend and is expected to go beyond the $500 million mark this week, according to Box Office Mojo. Released in June 2016, "Finding Dory" earned $486 million in the U.S.
In the global scene, "Captain America: Civil War" beats "Finding Dory" and "Rogue One" with $1.15 billion. "Rogue One" has a global current total of $980 million and is still playing worldwide to catch up with the Marvel comic book film.
The box office performance of "Rogue One" in its China opening is weak. This is despite the fact that it features two Chinese actors Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen and held its premiere in Beijing to promote the homegrown stars.
The recent "Star Wars" film only earned $52.7 million in China after two weeks of release while the previous movie "Star Wars: Force Awakens," which premiered in 2015, raked in $53.2 million on its first weekend and grossed a total of $124 million, according to Variety.
The 2016 "Star Wars" film is the first of the franchise not anchoring to the "Skywalker Saga," which has an episode number. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it tells the story of rebels tasked to steal the plans to the first Death Star.
Directly spinning off from "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope," the key event of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" brings ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Eventually, such people become a part of something bigger than themselves.
Meanwhile, four of the top five highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office in 2016 are Disney's. Following "Rogue One" and "Finding Dory" is "Captain America: Civil War" by Disney's Marvel Studios at number 3 having earned $408 million.
The live action adaptation of "The Jungle Book" is the fifth highest grossing film, earning $364 million. It closely trails Universal Pictures' "The Secret Life of Pets" at number 4 with a gross earnings of $368 million.
"Zootopia" is the seventh highest grossing film in the U.S. in 2016 while "Moana" and "Doctor Strange" are eleventh and twelfth. The three films likewise contribute to Disney's big win in the U.S. box office in 2016.
Watch the "Rogue One" trailer below:
