Russia Box Office: Local Hit 'SOS, Santa Claus' Falls Well Behind 'Star Wars'

The sci-fi epic's opening-weekend record in the coutry handily accounts for a multiple of the box office of the next four movies combined.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens led the Russian box office this past weekend, with the other four top five movies' gross amounting to just a fraction of Star Wars' take.

The new Star Wars movie grossed $12.4 million (879.5 million rubles), according to data from research company Movie Research, scoring the biggest opening weekend ever in Russia.

The previous opening-weekend record was registered just five months ago by Minions, which grossed $12.2 (864.8 million rubles) during its first weekend in theaters.

The local holiday-season comedy SOS, Ded Moroz, ili Vse sbudetsya! (SOS, Santa Claus, or Everything Will Come True), directed by Arman Gevorgyan, stayed in second place. The movie added $488,000 (34.6 million rubles) to its gross in its second weekend in theaters.

In the Heart of the Sea, the two previous weekend's champion, slipped to third place. Ron Howard's sea epic, starring Chris Hemsworth and based on the real-life sinking of the whale ship Essex in 1820, added $367,000 (26 million rubles) to its take.

The Good Dinosaur stayed in fourth place, adding $258,000 (18.3 million rubles) to its gross.

Steven Spielberg's period drama Bridge of Spies stayed in fifth place. It grossed $188,000 (13.3 million rubles) this weekend.

The combined take of the other four movies in the top five accounted for $1.3 million, or just above one-tenth of what the Star Wars movie took in.