Tuesday Mixer: One important 'Force Awakens' character confirms her return

Posted Tuesday, February 2, 2016 at 10:26 PM Central

by John Couture

Tuesday is the new Monday.

Well, after the weekend I had, I hope none of you judge me too harshly for being a little late this week with the weekend wrap-up. I started the weekend off with the final concert from one of my favorite local band, Those Darlins. This was a really tough one because I had been following them since their inception a decade ago and while I'm quite as young as I once was, their concerts always made me feel like I was in my 20s again.

Being a lifelong hockey fan and player for almost as long, you know that I was excited about the NHL All-Star game being Nashville this past weekend. So, needless to say, I didn't get much sleep this weekend and several adult beverages were consumed.

I was told that there were other things that happened this weekend and some of them even took place somewhere other than Nashville. I don't buy it, but here are some things that "allegedly" took place elsewhere.

Box Office 411

There was little doubt that Kung Fu Panda 3 was going to win the weekend, but would it be as successful as the previous two films in the franchise? Would it set a new January record? The answers are yes and no.

Kung Fu Panda 3 wound up with $41 million at the box office and it was in line with the second film's $47 million opening, but well shy of the original film's $60 million debut. Likewise, it set a record for biggest animated opening in January, but it fell just short of Ride Along's record January opening of $48.6 million.

Longterm, Kung Fu Panda 3 should perform better than expected thanks to the lack of family animated competition until early March. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up with over $150 million.

Disney's true-story of a courageous Coast Guard rescue, The Finest Hours, performed in line with expectations by earning just over $10 million. The film was seemingly well-received by critics and it should hold well, but I don't think it will make it up to $40 million.

The Marlon Wayans spoof Fifty Shades of Black has dark days ahead after only making $6.1 million this weekend. It is good enough for ninth place for now, but it might actually drop a spot once the final numbers are released.

The Revenant and The Force Awakens had great holds to finish in second and third respectively. The Force Awakens is now just just under $900 million and it should top that milestone this weekend.

Quick Hitters

• The Screen Actors Guild gave out their awards this weekend and while there were a couple of surprises, it's still very much looking like it's going to be Leonardo DiCaprio's year. The full list of winners is here
• Perhaps the biggest news to come out of this weekend though was the confirmation from Gwendoline Christie that Captain Phasma will return in Star Wars: Episode VIII. I'm thrilled with this news because I feel that her character got a bit of the short stick in The Force Awakens. With the recent disclosure that Episode VIII was delayed until December of 2017, perhaps this news will come as a welcome sign that things are finally starting to move forward.

What we have here is a failure to Mixer.