After all, distributors of most would-be blockbusters would kill for an opening weekend that huge. It's the 12th biggest domestic debut of all time and the second biggest December debut ever, behind only last year's "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." By the time the movie leaves theaters -- around the time you're starting your summer beach-body diet -- it will probably have earned close to $600 million in North America, which would make it one of the top six movies of all time.

With the notable recent exception of "Minions," spinoffs seldom do as well as the films that spawned them. (Recent exhibit A: "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.") That doesn't mean they're not still a license to print money, just not as much money.

2. Make 'em wait
George Lucas used to give fans a typical wait of three years between installments, and sometimes as long as 16 years. Coming exactly one year after "Force Awakens" (which ended a 10-year "Star Wars" drought), "Rogue One" didn't have much time to build up anticipation or make us miss the "Star Wars" universe enough to pine for its return to the screen.

3. The Weather
Arctic blasts in much of the country could have kept viewers at home. Anecdotally, however, there were plenty of tweets from fans who insisted that they were braving the cold to go see "Rogue One."

5. 3D
A full 38 percent of ticketbuyers ponied up for glasses-rental surcharges to see "Rogue One." Among those were the 12 percent of viewers who paid extra to see it on a giant IMAX screen. Those are excellent numbers for those formats, about the best that can be expected for any domestic debut with a 3D or IMAX option. Indeed, with "Rogue One" playing on more than 400 IMAX screens in North America, it's the widest IMAX release ever, resulting in the most lucrative IMAX premiere of 2016 ($19 million) and the second most lucrative December IMAX debut ever (after "Force Awakens").

This was the movie, like such past Smith year-end releases as "The Pursuit of Happyness" and "Seven Pounds," that was supposed to draw the female, adult audience that was presumably avoiding "Star Wars." (Indeed, that strategy worked last year for the R-rated comedy "Sisters.") But terrible reviews (just 14 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) may have scared away the grown-ups, who, as we've seen, were predisposed to see "Rogue One" anyway. Those who bought tickets actually liked "Collateral Beauty" a lot, giving it an A- at CinemaScore, but that positive word-of-mouth wasn't enough to overcome the reviews or the power of the Force.

Even if "Collateral Beauty" didn't end up causing any collateral damage to "Rogue One," the absence of female and adult viewers from the multiplex has been a mystery that has vexed the industry for much of 2016. So far, sales for this year are about four percent ahead of what they were at the same point in 2015, but "Rogue One" falling short of selling tickets as fast as "Force Awakens" means 2016's total take could fall behind last year's.

Could the relative lack of movies with female and adult appeal this year, compared to 2015, have made the difference?