NORTH AMERICA: 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Passes $650M After Record Breaking $22.93M New Year’s Eve Take on Thursday; 'Daddy’s Home' #2 with $5.88M, 'The Hateful Eight' #5 with $3.15M

By Daniel Garris

Disney's Star Wars: The Force Awakens took in an estimated $22.93 million on Thursday to dominate the daily box office for a 14th consecutive day. The blockbuster seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise easily set a new record for the largest New Year's Eve gross of all-time, as it topped the previous $14.74 million New Year's Eve record take of Avatar by 56 percent. The Force Awakens was down 18 percent from Wednesday and down 16 percent from last Thursday's Christmas Eve take. For the week, Star Wars: The Force Awakens grossed $261.11 million, which represented a 33 percent decline from the film's opening week performance.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens passed the $650 million mark yesterday and has grossed a massive $651.97 million in two weeks. The film is currently the fourth highest grossing film of all-time domestically without adjusting for ticket price inflation and today the film will pass the lifetime grosses of both this year's Jurassic World ($652.27 million) and 1997's Titanic ($658.67 million) to move into second place. When adjusting for ticket price inflation, The Force Awakens currently ranks in 26th place. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is running 46 percent ahead of the $445.84 million two-week take of Jurassic World and 130 percent ahead of the $283.62 million two-week gross of Avatar.

Overseas, Star Wars: The Force Awakens took in an estimated $15.1 million on Thursday. The film has now grossed $679.2 million overseas and $1.331 billion globally.

Paramount's Daddy's Home held steady in second place on Thursday with an estimated $5.88 million. The PG-13 rated comedy starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg declined 12 percent from Wednesday. Daddy's Home placed in second for the week with a significantly stronger than expected seven-day start of $64.68 million. That places the film 23 percent ahead of the $52.54 million seven-day take of 2010's The Other Guys.

Fox's Joy was up three spots and a strong 23 percent over Wednesday to move into third place on Thursday with an estimated $3.23 million. The David O. Russell directed film starring Jennifer Lawrence took fourth place for the week with a seven-day start of $28.32 million. Joy is performing towards the lower end of expectations and is running 30 percent behind the $40.38 million seven-day start of 2009's It's Complicated.

Fellow Fox release Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip was down one spot to land in fourth with an estimated $3.21 million. The fourth installment of the animated live-action hybrid franchise was down 24 percent from Wednesday and up 58 percent from last Thursday. The Road Chip placed in third for the week with $28.87 million. That was up 8 percent over the previous week and brings the film's two-week total to $55.58 million.

The Weinstein Company's The Hateful Eight fell one spot and 11 percent from Wednesday to round out Thursday's top five with an estimated $3.15 million. After a tremendous five-day start with its 100 location roadshow engagement, The Hateful Eight has grossed a modest $6.68 million in its first two days of wide release. However, given the film's very late release date change, it's still quite possible that The Hateful Eight will be significantly back-loaded towards the weekend. The Quentin Tarantino directed western took ninth place this week with a seven-day start of $13.34 million.

Sisters was down one spot to land in sixth place with an estimated $2.28 million. Universal's R-rated comedy starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler was down a sharp 28 percent from Wednesday, but still up a strong 59 percent over last Thursday. Sisters rounded out this week's top five with $25.86 million. The film was up a terrific 11 percent over its opening week performance and has grossed a healthy $49.12 million in two weeks.

Paramount's The Big Short followed in seventh place with $2.09 million. The critically acclaimed Adam McKay directed film increased 8 percent over Wednesday and 22 percent over last Thursday. The Big Short claimed sixth place for the week with $18.49 million and has grossed a promising $23.98 million in three weeks. The film will receive another expansion on January 8, when it will be playing in an estimated 2,500 locations.

Sony's Concussion and Warner's Point Break continued to claim eighth and ninth place with respective estimated daily grosses of $1.64 million and $1.23 million. Concussion was down 3 percent from Wednesday, while Point Break fell 14 percent. Concussion placed in seventh for the week with a seven-day start of $17.37 million and Point Break followed in eighth with a seven-day launch of $15.59 million. Both films are performing on the lower end of expectations.