HOLLYWOOD SHORTLIST: ‘Big Hero 6’ Soars Past ‘Interstellar’ to Take the Top Spot at the B.O.

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Disney, Big Hero 6

Christmas came early this year for sci-fi fanboys and comic book nerds alike with two of the most hotly anticipated titles of the year, The Dark Knight and Inception helmer Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and Disney’s Big Hero 6, vying for first place at the weekend box office. And despite glowing reviews, an epic, mind-bending storyline that would do Kubrick proud, and a glittering cast top-lined by recent Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, Interstellar fell just short of pre-release projections that placed it in the $50M range to finish the weekend in second place behind Big Hero 6 with $47.5M and $56.2 respectively.

Big Hero 6, the first Walt Disney Animated Classic release since Frozen, has been eagerly awaited by fans for months, performing well in virtually all demographics.

Director David Fincher’s adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel Gone Girl jumped to third place from fifth over the weekend with $6.2M and an impressive $145.5M gross to date.

On the specialty front, Oscar-nominated director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s platformed release, Birdman (Fox Searchlight), featuring a much-buzzed about, award-caliber turn from star Michael Keaton, expanded to 460 theatres to finish just outside the top ten in 11th place with $2.3M and a healthy $8M to date. Kicking off what many predict will be a very busy award season for the film, Birdman recently scored prestigious ‘Gotham Independent Film Award’ nominations for Best Picture and Actor in New York City.

And speaking of award season contenders, Focus Features’ Stephen Hawkings biopic The Theory of Everything ˆ’ featuring standout performances from leads Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones ˆ’ opened on five screens over the weekend with $208K, for a solid $41.7K take per venue. The micro-budgeted Dallas Buyers Club followed a similar release pattern last year and eventually went on to win three Academy Awards. So, let the games begin!