"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" had to battle a wicked winter storm on the east coast and a strong performance by Oscar contender "Hidden Figures" to win the weekend box office for a fourth consecutive weekend, according to estimates.
"Rogue One" has been dominating the box office since it opened the weekend before Christmas. It took in $21.9 million over the weekend, according to boxofficepro.com, upping its total to $477.2 million domestically and surpassing $900 million worldwide.
But "Hidden Figures," the 20th Century Fox release starring Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer about a group of African-American women who were essential to NASA's victory in getting a man to the moon in the 1960s space race, has been building attention the last few weeks in limited release thanks to a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and award season hype. The movie took in and estimated $21.8 million in its first weekend in wide release (a strong $8,822 per-screen average).
With just an estimated $100,000 difference between "Rogue One" and "Hidden Figures," it's possible that "Hidden Figures" could win out the weekend when final weekend box office figures are reported on Monday.
Coming in third is "Sing," the latest animated hit from the makers of "Despicable Me" and "The Secret Life of Pets," which continues to be a strong performer up against "Rogue One," as it took in $19.5 million. It's total domestic tally is now a healthy $213.3 million (over $360 million worldwide) over three weeks.
