The African-American women of “Hidden Figures” ruled the box office this weekend. As The Hollywood Reporter writes, the historical film passed “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” to take the weekend lead with $22.8 million.
Written by Allison Schroeder and the film’s director, Theodore Melfi, and based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly, “Hidden Figures” tells the “incredible untold story of Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), brilliant African-American women working at NASA, who served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race, and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.”
The film has already inspired a scholarship contest for young women in STEM, helped launch a website for future programmers of Black Girls CODE, and won the Sloan Science in Cinema Prize. It opened in select theaters on Christmas Day, expanded on January 6, and has earned a total of $24.7 million to date against a $25 million budget. Octavia Spencer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture at the Golden Globes, but the film sadly went home empty-handed last night.
As THR writes, the film appealed to a diverse audience: 43 percent of ticket buyers were Caucasian and 37 percent African-American. Women made up 64 percent of the audience, and 56 percent of all ticket buyers were 35 or older.
“It is a film for everyone regardless of age, gender, or race, and effectively illustrates the power of the human mind and spirit,” said Fox domestic distribution president Chris Aronson. “In these challenging times, its life-affirming message comes along at a perfect time.”
“Rogue One,” the Felicity Jones-led anthology film of the “Star Wars” universe, which as been open for a few weeks now, has passed the $900 million mark. Coming in at number four was more female-led action, with “Underworld: Blood Wars,” the fifth film in the franchise starring Kate Beckinsale and directed by Anna Foerster, taking in $13.1 million.
