Sequels ruled in the largest ever Thanksgiving box office, with both Ralph Breaks the Internet and Creed II opening well above forecasts over the five day holiday weekend. But there wasn’t enough room at the table for the other new release, Robin Hood, which is one of the biggest bombs of the year.
In first place was sequel Ralph Breaks the Internet, which had a fantastic $84.7m opening over the five days, the second best ever, behind only Frozen. This is a huge improvement over its predecessor, which opened to $49.0m over a three day weekend and ended up with $189m, a figure the sequel will pass with ease. Ralph was just slightly above Moana‘s Thanksgiving opening in 2016 en route to $248.7m, which would be a good goal for Ralph. However, the sequel was surprisingly frontloaded over the weekend, and is not as beloved as many of Disney’s other Thanksgiving films. Still, a likely $230-240m finish will be a great result.
Creed II was perhaps an even bigger surprise, as it became the highest ever live action Thanksgiving opener with $56.0m, a substantial jump from its predecessor’s $42.1m five day opening in 2015. This is well above expectations, which were mostly in the $40-45m range, as well as solidifying Michael B Jordan as a rare star that can pull a crowd. Creed II should pass Creed‘s $109.7m, and it even has a solid chance at surpassing 1985’s Rocky IV‘s $127.8m to become the highest grossing boxing film of all time, depending on how it holds. It will be more clear after next week’s drop, but right now I am predicting it will be more frontloaded and finish with $120m.
The race for third place was a nail biter, with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald taking third over the five day, but The Grinch coming out on top for the Fri-Sun three day. We’re looking at five day results, so we will look at Crimes first.
Crimes made $42.3m over the five day for $116.5m after ten days of release. It is trailing far behind its predecessor, which had made $156.0m at the same point in its release. This is not a good sign for the legs of the divisive installment. It’s clear that casual fans are staying home, and many fans seeing it are left disappointed. It will likely finish with an underwhelming $175m domestically, but it will be saved by its overseas performance.
The Grinch had a great hold despite direct competition from Ralph, making $42.0m over the holiday, for $180m to date. If it continues to hold like this, it could make a play for $250m.
Bohemian Rhapsody rounded at the top five with $19.5m for a phenomenal $152.1m total. This is just the latest musical hit with crazy legs, following A Star is Born and The Greatest Showman.
Instant Family rebounded from its soft opening, making $17.2m for $35.5m to date, as it shapes up to be a solid success.
The week’s other new release, Robin Hood, was a horrible bomb, as expected. Hated by both critics and audiences, Lionsgate’s reboot made just $14.2m over five days, a brutal start for the film, which reportedly cost $90m, and will definitely not be getting its planned sequels.
Widows finished in eighth place with $10.8m and $25.8m after ten days, an underwhelming, if not outright terrible, start for the acclaimed crime drama, which cost $42m. It still has hope of saving face over the coming weeks, but likely will not be turning a profit in its theatrical run.
Universal’s big Oscar contender, Green Book, expanded to 1063, but that may have been too much, too soon, as it only pulled in $7.4m. While this is still very early in its run, it looks like it will not be able to replicate the breakout success of films like Hidden Figures, which the studio was clearly hoping for with its release strategy.
Finally, A Star is Born spent its final week in the top 10, bringing in $4.0m for $191.0m to date.
That’s it for this week. Next week is typically a slow one at the box office, with the only new release being the horror film The Possession of Hannah Grace.
Film Central 