Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Revenant' Gains $30M In Opening, Will It Beat 'Star Wars VII?'

"The Revenant," which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy, is about to hit the $35 million to $40 million this weekend. With the results coming in, it seems like the movie is set to compete with another box office magnet "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," according to Variety.

The Thursday night preview screenings of the film grossed with a very impressive $2.3 million as it stretched from a four-screen run success that started on Christmas to more than 3,000 site on Friday. The movie was expected to go up to a $20 million range which is more or less than half than the fourth weekend of "Star Wars."

Recently, it has been reported by the Australian Financial Review that "The Revenant" was up to its game to oust "Star Wars: The Force Awakens - something that Leonardo DiCaprio should be proud of. The said movie released by 20th Century Fox raked in a total of $14.4 million by Friday, including the preview screenings.

"'The Revenant' has suddenly become the got-to-see film because of DiCaprio," said Paul Dergarbedian, a senior media analyst with Rentrak. "He may be one of the last movie stars, which is a rare commodity these days."

Critics applauded DiCaprio's performance in the movie. "Despite a few other award groups failing to offer the film the degree of recognition it deserves, I am confident the Oscars will not make that mistake," he said, according to a review in Forbes. "And so The Revenant will enjoy its own awards buzz on top of the Birdman linkage - the Golden Globes attention will definitely help in that regard, too."

But not all are impressed with Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in "The Revenant," saying that the actor getting an Oscar for his role in this movie is laughable. "Critics agree. 'The Revenant' is a visually and emotionally visceral film in which Leonardo DiCaprio puts himself through actual physical and mental torture. They say this movie is peak masculine grit and fortitude-the story of a true survivalist-and Leo will finally win an Oscar for Best Actor," according to Bill A. Bear on The Muse. "I find that laughable."