US box office tops $10b, led by ‘Finding Dory’

This is the fastest earnings milestone has ever been achieved

The US box office has topped a whopping $10 billion this year, reported Variety. The achievement marks the fastest-ever that it has reached the milestone, according to the National Association of Theater Owners.

Disney’s Finding Dory is the leading grosser of 2016, with$486.2 million, followed by its Captain America: Civil War with $408.1 million, Universal’s The Secret Life of Pets with $367.6 million and Disney’s The Jungle Book at $364 million and Fox’s Deadpool at $363.1 million.

The previous record for topping $10 billion was set in 2013, when the milestone was reached on December 7. The 2012 box office reached the mark on December 8, while last year’s box office did not pass the mark until December 18.

However, the 2015 box office still managed to set a record with $11.12 billion, thanks largely to Disney’s Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens taking in $652 million in the last 14 days of the year.

The first Star Wars spinoff movie, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, is on pace to open to more than $130 million during the December 16 to December 18 weekend, according to pre-release tracking. Disney chief Bob Iger has said the studio is not expecting the film to do Force Awakens-level business because it exists outside of the main narrative of the previous seven Star Wars movies.

Felicity Jones stars in Rogue One, alongside Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, and Forest Whitaker. Gareth Edwards directs the film. Advance ticket sales start on Monday.

If the 2016 box office is to finish ahead of 2015, it’s likely that another key contributor will be Universal-Illumination’s Sing, an animated comedy about a music competition between animals, with a soundtrack from pop favorites such as Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. It opens on December 21.

Business in the US has been solid during the ongoing Thanksgiving holiday, with the five-day period projected to finish in the same neighborhood as 2015’s $258 million, led by Moana at around $85 million.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2016.

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