‘Hidden Figures’ leads ‘La La Land’ and ‘Patriot’s Day’ at holiday box office

In what’s shaping up to be a highly competitive holiday weekend at the box office, 20th Century Fox and Chernin Entertainment’s “Hidden Figures� has the No. 1 spot, just three days in. If it holds, it will be the reigning film for the second week in a row.

The film, based on a true story about black women at NASA who were integral to the Space Race, brought in an estimated $20.5 million in the U.S. and Canada during the traditional three-day weekend. The studio is projecting that the film, starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae, will end the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend with $25.3 million. “Hidden Figures� is set to hit $60 million domestically by Monday.

Lionsgate’s musical “La La Land� took second, expanding to more than 1,800 screens (including almost 148 Imax screens) in its sixth week in release. The Emma Stone-Ryan Gosling love story and ode to Los Angeles pulled in $14.5 million in three days. On the heels of the movie’s sweep of all seven of the Golden Globes it was nominated for last week, the studio is projecting a four-day gross of $17.5 million. If this holds, the estimated domestic gross for the film will be $77.1 million.

Landing in third was Universal’s “Sing,� in its fourth week. The animated musical garnered $13.8 million through Sunday. The studio is projecting $18.5 million through Monday. To date, the film has pulled $237.7 million domestically.

Lucasfilm-Disney’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story� landed in fourth in its fifth week with an estimated $13.8 million over three days. It’s projected to pull in $17.2 million over the four-day weekend. The picture is on its way to the coveted $1-billion mark, with $980 million in ticket sales worldwide.

Faring the best of the new releases was STX Entertainment’s “The Bye Bye Man� which landed in the fifth spot. Over-performing tracking predictions, the thriller pulled $13.4 million through Sunday. It is expected to creep past $15 million over the full holiday, which would be more than double its $7.4-million production budget.

Audiences (61% females; 75% under 25) and critics appear split of the picture. Although moviegoers gave it a B CinemaScore, it has a 27% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

Following its successful three-week limited run in seven theaters, CBS Films and Lionsgate’s “Patriots Day� expanded to more than 3,000 locations. Starring Mark Wahlberg, the retelling of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing story took in $12 million for the three-day weekend, landing in sixth place. Analysts project the holiday weekend could end with it pulling in a total of $18 million to $20 million.

The film from Peter Berg seems to be an audience and critics favorite. It received a rare A-plus CinemaScore rating and has a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Big flops came in the form of new releases “Live By Night,� from Warner Bros., and “Monster Trucks,� from Paramount. “Live,� which was written and directed by and stars Ben Affleck, expanded nationwide following a three-week limited run. Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, the Prohibition-era crime thriller will likely fail to meet analyst projections of $10 million during the four-day weekend. It only brought in $5.4 million through Sunday. “Live By Night,� which cost an estimated $65 million to make, has been hampered by poor reviews.

“Monster Trucks� pulled in $10.5 million in its three-day debut. But the film was produced for a massive $125 million. This makes the movie, about a teenager whose truck is inhabited by a tentacled, computer-animated monster, an early 2017 dud for the studio. Still, it will beat analyst projections of $8 million to $10 million for the entire weekend. The studio is projecting $14.1 million.

Also opening was “Sleepless� from Open Road. Starring Jamie Foxx, it amassed $8.5 million over the three-day weekend. If projections hold, it will meet analyst expectations of $10 million over four days.

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: [email protected].