LOS ANGELES -- The Watch Watery Boarding House OnlineForce Awakens, it was not -- but Rogue Onegot away clean with $155 million at the North American box office this weekend, a robust start that guarantees the first Star Wars "story" will not be the last.
The $155 million figure makes Rogue Onethe third highest grossing domestic weekend opener of 2016, behind Captain America: Civil War($179 million) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice($166 million). It's also the 12th highest bow of all time, sandwiched between The Hunger Games: Catching Fire($147 million in 2013) and The Hunger Games($152 million in 2012).
SEE ALSO: Let's discuss that epic 'Rogue One' endingMark this down as a not overly spectacular -- but certainly robustly good-enough -- launch for Disney's plan to annualize its Star Wars franchise entries, including stand-alone "stories" that don't quite factor into the central Skywalker saga.
Throw in other X-factors like new/unfamiliar characters, a female lead in Felicity Jones and a production that saw the studio seize control from director Gareth Edwards for a series of spendy reshoots -- just part of the process folks, not the controversy you're looking for, move along -- and it's safe to say that Rogue One's mission was a success.
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable Worldwide, Rogue Onetook in $290.5 million for the three-day frame, according to studio estimates obtained by Mashableon Sunday.
Where Rogue Onewinds up on the 2017 charts for total grosses should be an interesting case study: It should have long enough legs to catch No. 5 Deadpool, which hauled in $363 million after 18 weeks in release -- but has almost no hope of touching fellow Disney release Finding Dory, which stayed in movie theaters for 25 weeks on its way to a whopping $486 million domestic.
Of course, Rogue Onenever had a chance at playing like last year's The Force Awakens-- and no one expected as much. That franchise homecoming celebration posted the highest opening weekend in history at $250 million in North America, a staggering result that was driven mostly by male moviegoers (64 percent) and instant-repeat business.
Rogue Onealso boasted the second-best December domestic opening, behind only The Force Awakens, of course.
The 23 percent Saturday-to-Sunday dropoff for Rogue Onewas far steeper than that of The Force Awakens(11 percent), which also posted a record $60 million for Thursday night late shows, a number that Rogue Oneneeded Thursday night and all of Friday to hit.
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