‘Hidden Figures’ Continues to Orbit the Top of the Box Office as Several High Profile Releases Fail to Launch

Real-life space race drama Hidden Figures has landed a second week at the top of the North American box office.
The movie, which stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monae as the three African-American women who worked behind the scenes to help NASA make John Glenn the first American astronaut to orbit Earth in 1962, narrowly managed to dethrone Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for the box office crown last week, and the film has held on to the title after grossing $20.5 million over the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday weekend.
Awards season favorite La La Land climbs into second place on the new countdown, raking in $14.5 million, while animated family film Sing places third with $13.8 million.
The new top five is rounded out by Rogue One at four and supernatural thriller The Bye Bye Man at five.
There were a number of notable commercial flops over the weekend, with Monster Trucks leading the losers’ list. The live-action/animated project was initially designed to launch a new franchise for Paramount Animation, but it’s unlikely to land a sequel after earning a mere $10.5 million to enter at seven on the box office chart. The film cost a stunning $125 million to make.
Another disappointment was Ben Affleck’s period crime drama Live by Night, which has taken $5.4 million in its wide-release debut after opening in in 2,471 theaters. It had initially enjoyed a limited release on Christmas Day.
Martin Scorsese’s Silence was another wide-release victim, grossing just $1.9 million in 747 cinemas.