2015 North American Box Office Breaks Records For Christmas Weekend

Rentrak has announced that the 2015 Christmas holiday weekend was the highest-earning Christmas weekend in North American box office history, and the second weekend to ever surpass the $300 million threshold.

A wide assortment of movies brought record numbers of patrons to movie theaters across the U.S. during the Christmas holiday weekend, giving the industry its biggest overall Christmas weekend take in North American box office history, with an estimated $300 million from Friday through Sunday. This record comes just one week after the opening weekend of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, which was the first $300 million-plus weekend in box office history.

On the seventh chapter of the STAR WARS saga, Rentrak’s Senior Media Analyst, Paul Dergarabedian says, “the franchise demolished more records as it hit the $1 billion mark in just 12 days, faster in than any other film in box office history and also became the fastest film to hit $500 million in North America in a record 10 days.”

“The fact that we have back-to-back record-breaking weekends – both of which crossed the $300 million threshold for the first time ever – is a testament to the power and allure of the movie theater experience today,” adds Dergarabedian. “The crop of movies in theaters during this holiday season is second to none and is unparalleled in terms their appeal to a wide range of audiences male and female, old and young alike.

Led by the latest STAR WARS installment, star-powered new releases including the Will Ferrell comedy DADDY’S HOME, Jennifer Lawrence in JOY, Will Smith in CONCUSSION, Leonardo DiCaprio in THE REVENANT and director Quentin Tarantino’s THE HATEFUL EIGHT, as well as expansions of critical favorites like THE DANISH GIRL and THE BIG SHORT and other must-see films such as SPOTLIGHT and CAROL, all contributed to this weekend’s record-breaking numbers.

Below is a list of the top 10 highest-earning North American box office weekends:

Rentrak – Top 10 All-Time North American Weekends

©Lucasfilm 2015

The top 12 domestic weekend box office estimates, listed in descending order, per data collected as of Sunday, Dec. 27, are below.

1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Disney – $153.5M
2. Daddy’s Home – Paramount – $38.8M
3. Joy – 20th Century Fox – $17.5M
4. Sisters – Universal – $13.9M
5. Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip – 20th Century Fox – $12.7M
6. Concussion – Sony – $11.0M
7. Big Short, The – Paramount – $10.5M
8. Point Break – Warner Bros. – $10.2M
9. Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, The – Lionsgate – $5.3M
10. Hateful Eight, The – The Weinstein Company – $4.5M
11. Good Dinosaur, The – Disney – $3.8M
12. Krampus – Universal – $2.2M