'The Revenant' Powers Fox To Big Box Office Win In Heart Of Award Season

Investors in Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (NASDAQ: FOXA) received even more good news on Monday following its strong showing at the Golden Globes Sunday night.

Despite the massive drawing power of current reigning box office champ Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS)'s "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," "The Revenant" will open in second place with around $38 million. Analysts had begun predicting a high opening for the Leonardo DiCaprio headlined project following increased tracking on Friday.

The movie, which carries a budget upwards of $135 million, quickly developed a reputation for having one of the most brutal shoots in film history. Shot on location in the frozen tundra of Canada while utilizing pure natural light, the film was plague by multiple delays.

Directed by visionary Oscar winner Alejandro Inarritu, “Revenant” is a gritty Western that runs over two and half hours. Many questioned if the film’s graphic nature would scare away audiences, but the returns show that was clearly not the case.

With so many high-profile adult films like “Concussion,” “The Walk” and “Steve Jobs” faltering at the box office, the massive success of “Revenant,” should calm investor fears about weakening industry returns.

The studio will next release “Kung Fu Panda 3” at the end of the month (in partnership with DreamWorks Animation Skg Inc (NASDAQ: DWA)) followed by the highly buzzed about “Deadpool” in February.