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.

The horror of what we saw last night drove people to the movies– to a horror film. M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split” took in over $14 million on Friday. Those people could have stayed home and watched the end of the world for free. But they went out and spent $10 a pop to get away from it.

Second was “XXX: Return of Xander Cage,” which made $7.1 million. Again, escapism ruled.

Oscar favorites “La La Land” and “Hidden Figures” continue to do well. “Lion” hit $15 million. (Go, “Lion”!)

But Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” expanded to 1,580 theaters and tanked. The average per screen was $201. The total through today is $4.3 million. This is a tragedy. One day this movie will be ranked as a classic. Its release, however, has been a disaster. Try and see “Silence” before it’s out of theaters. A gorgeous, important film.

Universal Pictures has just canceled its press junket for “A Dog’s Purpose” following the growing scandal around a German Shepherd which may have been terrorized on set by its trainer.

PETA has jumped way into the melee, asking Universal to pull the Lasse Hallstrom directed film. Hallstrom and voice over actor (in this case, he’s usually in person) Josh Gad have each expressed concern over the video that’s circulating of the dog and his trainer.

Hallstrom, whose many great movies include “My Life as A Dog,” is just about the nicest and most conscientious director in the world. He’s worked a lot of with kids and pets, and is known for being exceedingly good to them. I doubt this video is indicative of anything that happened on the film.

Universal says:

Because Amblin’s review into the edited video released yesterday is still ongoing, distributor Universal Pictures has decided it is in the best interest of A DOG’S PURPOSE to cancel this weekend’s premiere and press junket. Amblin and Universal do not want anything to overshadow this film that celebrates the relationship between animals and humans. 

Since the emergence of the footage, Amblin has engaged with many associated with the production of the film, including safety personnel, trainers and stunt coordinators as part of their in-depth review.  While we are all disheartened by the appearance of an animal in distress, everyone has assured us that Hercules the German Shepherd was not harmed throughout the filmmaking.

We continue to support this film, are incredibly proud of it and will release it for audiences nationwide next Friday.