‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ continues galactic rule over box office with $49M Friday haul

Like a tractor beam sucking up errant spaceships, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” used its powers to pull in more than $49.3 million in box office receipts on Friday. This puts the total domestic cash haul for Disney and Lucasfilm’s blockbuster “Star Wars” sequel at $440 million since it opened last week.

It’s a force that shows no sign of subsiding. “Force Awakens” is projected to gross north of $150 million over the coming weekend, partially due to strong Christmas ticket sales.

Paramount’s Will Ferrell/Mark Wahlberg comedy “Daddy’s Home,” which opened on Christmas Day, came in at No. 2 with $15.7 million worth of receipts. “Joy,” 20th Century Fox’s family drama starring Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, which also opened on Friday, drew $6.9 million.

Other films in the top 10 weekend box office include Universal’s comedy “Sisters” (with $4.7 million in earnings), Sony’s drama “Concussion” ($4.3 million) and the Warner Bros. surf flick “Point Break” ($4.1 million).

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Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight,” released by the Weinstein Co., managed to break the top 10 despite opening on limited release Christmas Day on only 100 screens. The film came in at No. 9 with a $1.9-million take.

Twitter: @cmonstah.

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