“Rogue One” Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide, “Hidden Figures” Surprises as Hottest of Oscar Films

Let’s get this out of the way: “Rogue One” crossed a billion dollars worldwide over the weekend. It’s a movie with no sequel! When I ran into Diego Luna and Felicity Jones at the Golden Globes dinner, they were laughing — ruefully. “Yes, we went up in a puff of smoke!” Felicity said. “Maybe there’s a prequel?” I asked. Neither one of them held much hope for that. But with “Star Wars,” you never know.

Somewhere in heaven, Carrie Fisher is smiling. Those last moments of “Rogue One” depended on our love for Princess Leia.

Meanwhile, “Hidden Figures” is such a hit– bigger than anyone could have guessed. Fox is up to almost $90 million. Is this a Best Picture nominee surprise on Tuesday morning? I think so. You know we’ve got La La Land, Moonlight, Manchester, Lion, Fences, Arrival but then– what? Hidden Figures would have drawn the live audience’s oohs and aahhhs in the old days. (Now there will be digital approval.)

Also in that line should be “Hell or High Water.” But some that seem gone include “Jackie,” “Loving,” and “Nocturnal Animals.”

“Fences,” by the way, has made a very nice $48 million leading up to Oscar noms. Very well played.

On the non-Oscar front: “Passengers,” which didn’t get great reviews and wasn’t thought to be much of anything, made a shocking $270 million worldwide including $95 million in the US. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt are movie stars! And they should get two sequels out of this. So you see, Sony isn’t dead and gone yet. Studio fortunes are cyclical, which is often forgotten.