‘Rise of Skywalker’ remains victorious with $725m global haul

The holiday box office proved fruitful for a wide variety of movies with Disney and Lucasfilm’s ‘Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker’ leading the bounty, crossing $361 million (Dh1.3 billion) in North America after this weekend’s $72 million haul.

JJ Abrams’ third and final chapter in the sequel trilogy collected $136 million over the five-day Christmas stretch. After less than two weeks in theatres, ‘Rise of Skywalker’ has generated $725 million globally, distinguishing itself as the 10th-highest grossing movie of the year worldwide and seventh-biggest in the US.

Greta Gerwig’s ‘Little Women’ is also bringing holiday cheer, generating $16.5 million during the weekend and $29 million since Wednesday to land at No 3. That’s a solid result for Sony and New Regency, which shelled out $40 million to produce the film. Gerwig, who wrote and directed ‘Little Women,’ proved that seventh times’ a charm for Louisa May Alcott’s literary classic. The movie — starring Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Timothee Chalamet, Emma Watson and Laura Dern — has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike.

Slightly lower on box office charts, A24’s suspense thriller ‘Uncut Gems’ debuted at No 7, collecting $9.5 million over the traditional weekend and $18.8 million since opening on Wednesday. That marks the indie distributor’s biggest five-day launch to date despite the film’s C+ CinemaScore from audiences.

Directed by brothers Josh and Benny Safdie, ‘Uncut Gems’ has found itself in the awards conversation for Adam Sandler’s dramatic turn as a jewellery maven and gambling addict.

After ‘Rise of Skywalker,’ Sony’s ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ and Disney’s ‘Frozen 2’ eclipsed newcomers on box office charts.

Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart’s action sequel has pocketed a huge $59 million since Wednesday, propelling its North American tally to $175.45 million.