Alejandro G. Inarritu's The Revenant is expected to pull in over $20 million when it expands from four locations to 3,371 screens across the U.S. this weekend, Variety reports.
The movie, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life fur trapper Hugh Glass, is strongly tipped to triumph at next month's Academy Awards, and has three nominations at Sunday's Golden Globes Awards, including a best actor nod for DiCaprio.
Here are five reasons why DiCaprio should start preparing his own spontaneous, humble Oscar acceptance speech:
Preparation
A gentle meander through Daniel Day Lewis' house would inevitable lead to you tripping over one of his three Oscars, each won after immersing himself in a physically challenging role, so as to emerge on the other side creatively reformed.
To match Day-Lewis' method acting techniques for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio would have had to spend 24 hours a day pretending to be an incredibly wealthy, influential, model-dating, kingpin. In other words, be Leonardo Di Caprio - a challenge not usually rewarded by Oscar voters.
For The Revenant , the actor has learned from 2014's laissez-faire approach, and delved into the world of explorer Hugh Glass by eating raw bison and sleeping in animal carcasses.
Better, Leo. Better
Alejandro G. Inarritu and Emmanuel Lubezki
There is no point eating raw meat and snuggling up to a dead mammal if you don't have the team behind you to make you look less like a lost Hollywood star, and more like a deserted American explorer from the 1800s.
In director Alejandro G. Inarritu and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, DiCaprio has the backing of two Oscar winners with form in picking up Hollywood's greatest prize by framing lost and desperate characters.
Lubezki photographed the space astray Sandra Bullock in Gravity and, along with Inarritu, showed viewers what it was like to be lost in Michael Keaton's mind in Birdman.
Immaculate Facial Foliage
For a man who had to fend for his life amid gruelling terrain and battle bears with his bare hands, DiCaprio's Hugh Glass manages to maintain an almost perfectly crafted beard at all times.
Don't be mistaken, this was likely a deliberate attempt to tap into the significant rise over the past 12 months in the global appreciation of the smartly bearded gentleman.
This level of zeitgeist awareness can only be achieved by a true creative visionary, the kind that the Academy cannot ignore.
History
Legendary British actor Peter O'Toole suffered through the ignominy of being nominated eight times without winning, a clear oversight on the part of the Academy.
While it remains to be seen if snubbing DiCaprio would be on a similar scale, you imagine the Academy would do anything to avoid the shame of repeating the same mistake twice.
Unless...
Honorary Award
If engulfing yourself in animal remains, working with an A-list team, maintaining a beard in freak conditions, and consuming uncooked bison isn't enough to win the coveted gold-plated statue, then it may be time for the Academy to resort to the emergency option: the Honorary Award.
Time is certainly running out should he fail to win next month and DiCaprio may be unwilling in the future to put in the same amount of commitment towards his roles.
The Honorary Award would also double as an act of humanitarian aid as bestowing an Oscar upon his career would likely clear the final hurdle in the way of DiCaprio focusing on settling down and starting a family with one of the (very) long line of supermodels vying for his attention.
Uncommon Knowledge
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