America's still going 'Rogue' and black college band agrees to march for Trump

The "Star Wars" spinoff Rogue One led the box office for the third straight week, taking in an estimated $64.3 million over the four-day New Year's weekend, according to studio estimates Monday.

The success of Rogue One only further cemented a record year for Disney, which ran up $2.7 billion in domestic ticket sales in 2016 and accounted for more than 25 percent of the market.

Rogue One has now grossed about $440 million in North America and nearly $800 million globally and finished as 2016's No. 2 movie, behind Finding Dory (also from Disney). The Mouse House notched four of the year's top five grossers, with Captain America: Civil War finishing third and The Jungle Book finishing fifth. Disney also had the No. 7 film, Zootopia, No. 10, Doctor Strange and No. 12, Moana.

The weekend pushed the industry to $11.4 billion in ticket sales in 2016, topping the $11.1 billion record set in 2015. But the record revenue, propelled primarily by the Disney juggernaut, masks undeniable challenges in the business. Attendance was largely flat and streaming and television continue to grow as competitors.

But Hollywood's 2017 is starting out with brisk business. In its second week of release, the animated Sing again came in second with $56.4 million.

The poorly reviewed science-fiction romance Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, came in third with $20.7 million. It's at $61.4 million, a somewhat disappointing total for a film that cost north of $100 million to make.

A pair of Oscar contenders is also packing theaters. Despite playing in more limited release, Damien Chazelle's La La Land grossed $12.3 million over the four-day weekend. The lead Golden Globe nominee has grossed $37 million and yet is playing in only 750 theaters.

Denzel Washington's acclaimed August Wilson adaption, Fences, also took in $12.7 million over the holiday weekend. Since opening wide on Christmas, it's made $32.4 million.

The marching band of Talladega College, Alabama's oldest private, historically black liberal arts college has accepted an invitation to perform at President-elect Donald Trump's inaugural parade, organizers said.

The school had no further comment.

Alumni and others had plenty to say on social media.

* In an even more bizarre inauguration entertainment story, Rebecca Ferguson, the 2010 runner-up on the British X Factor said on Twitter that she has been asked to perform at the Trump inauguration, and she claims she said yes.

On one condition.

TheWrap.com reports that Ferguson will perform only if she's allowed to sing "Strange Fruit," a protest song first sung by Billie Holiday in 1939. Nina Simone performed it 15 years later.

Via Twitter, Ferguson, said the song "is a reminder of how love is the only thing that will conquer all the hatred in this world."

From the lyric by poet Abel Meeropol: "Southern trees bear strange fruit/ Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/ Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze."

A. It's hard to believe Ferguson was actually asked by the Trump campaign.

B. Either way: Well played madam. Well played.

* After missing a Christmas church service for the first time in decades, Queen Elizabeth II, 90, missed a traditional New Year's Day church service Sunday because of the effects of a lingering cold.

Buckingham Palace said the queen "does not yet feel ready to attend church as she is still recuperating from a heavy cold." There was no indication she is suffering from a more serious illness.

But given the death parade the last few weeks, Brits were rightfully concerned.

* The famed "HOLLYWOOD" sign in Los Angeles read "HOLLYWeeD" for a few hours on New Year's Day.

Police were investigating Sunday after a prankster used giant tarps to turn two of the iconic sign's white Os into Es sometime overnight.

Forty-one years ago to the day - Jan. 1, 1976 - a college student similarly altered the sign, using curtains to make it read "HOLLYWEED."

So it wasn't a prank, it was an homage.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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