Theater Counts: Rogue One Will Open in Massive 4,157 Theaters

December 15, 2016

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Finding tickets might be a challenge in some cases, but finding a theater that’s playing Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this weekend won’t be hard, with Disney announcing early this afternoon that the Star Wars spin-off will debut in 4,157 theaters, just a shade more than the 4,134-theater opening that helped The Force Awakens to all those box office records this time last year. Rogue One isn’t expected to hit those heights—our weekend prediction is $143 million—but it will certainly be the second-biggest opener in December. Its target on the all-time best openings in December chart is the $149 million earned by Episode VII in its second weekend. Anything more than that would be outstanding, even by this franchise’s impossibly high standards.

We’re still waiting on a few theater counts, but we do know that Collateral Beauty will be the second-widest opener this weekend, playing in 3,028 theaters. It’s struggling to make any sort of impression. Manchester by the Sea is expanding into 1,208 locations, and stands a better chance of making headlines come Sunday, although it won’t top the theater averages. That claim to fame will almost certainly go to La La Land, which earned a prodigious $176,000 average last weekend from five theaters, and expands into a total of 200 this time around.

Looking ahead to next weekend, we have a very crowded schedule. The two standout films in terms of theater counts are Sing, which debuts in about 4,000 locations on Wednesday, and Assassin’s Creed, which also arrives on Wednesday, and will play in about 3,000 theaters. We don’t yet have an official number from Sony for Passengers.

Theater Counts for Weekend of December 16–18

MovieDistributorTheatersPrevious
Theaters
Change
Rogue One: A Star Wars StoryWalt Disney4,157new
MoanaWalt Disney3,5873,875-288
Office Christmas PartyParamount Pictures3,2103,2100
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemWarner Bros.3,0363,626-590
Collateral BeautyWarner Bros.3,028new
ArrivalParamount Pictures2,1573,115-958
Doctor StrangeWalt Disney1,9302,763-833
Trolls20th Century Fox1,7142,786-1,072
AlliedParamount Pictures1,6253,018-1,393
Miss SloaneEuropaCorp1,4631,648-185
Hacksaw RidgeLionsgate1,3412,277-936
Nocturnal AnimalsFocus Features1,2461,262-16
Manchester by the SeaRoadside Attractions1,208368+840
Almost ChristmasUniversal7201,259-539
Bad Santa 2Broad Green Pictures4142,034-1,620
LovingFocus Features396572-176
IncarnateHigh Top Releasing3181,737-1,419
The AccountantWarner Bros.252455-203
Jack Reacher: Never Go BackParamount Pictures235290-55
StorksWarner Bros.235267-32
The Edge of SeventeenSTX Entertainment221932-711
La La LandLionsgate2005+195
The Secret Life of PetsUniversal165183-18
Deepwater HorizonLionsgate136144-8
The Girl on the TrainUniversal112151-39
SullyWarner Bros.103177-74
JackieFox Searchlight8426+58
Shut InEuropaCorp7853+25
BelieveSmith Global Media42386-344
LionWeinstein Co.1615+1
Queen of KatweWalt Disney619-13
The DressmakerBroad Green Pictures615-9
FencesParamount Pictures4new
PricelessRoadside Attractions25-3
Note: New theater counts are added as studios report throughout the day on Thursday



Estimates for Weekend of December 23-25

MovieDistributorEstimated
Theaters
Sing (opens 12/21)Universal4,000
Passengers (opens 12/21)Sony Pictures3,300
Assassin's Creed (opens 12/21)20th Century Fox3,000
Why Him?20th Century Fox2,800
Hidden Figures (opens 12/25)20th Century Fox25
Patriots Day (opens 12/21)Lionsgate7
A Monster CallsFocus Features4
SilenceParamount Pictures4
Live by Night (opens 12/25)Warner Bros.4

Filed under: Theater Counts, Star Wars