Box Office: Encanto takes the top spot over Thanksgiving weekend

Disney’s Encanto took the top spot over the long holiday weekend while Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci had the best opening weekend for adults in two years.

Encanto grossed $40.3 million over the five-day weekend and proved to be a big hit with families along with the second weekend of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Encanto can also claim the title for the best start of the pandemic era for an animated title. The pandemic is a key factor here because while this is a good opening, Disney has fared better with their animated films over this particular holiday in the past prior to the pandemic. The last original movie to launch over the holiday, Coco, posted a five-day domestic gross of $72.9 million in 2018. Among franchise installments, Frozen II amassed more than $125 million for the five days in 2019. It’s not really fair to hold Encanto to these standards but there was some hope that the well-received animated film could’ve soared a bit higher out the gate. That being said, Encanto could see solid word of mouth as the film registered an “A” CinemaScore with audiences and is 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Overseas, Encanto opened to $29.3 million from more than 47 markets for a global launch of $69.6 million.

Falling to second but experiencing a fantastic hold is Ghostbusters: Afterlife with a five-day gross of $35.3 million. The film fell about 44% from its three-day total but it was probably the most consistent performer of the bigger releases throughout the Thanksgiving holiday frame. Domestically, the film has grossed $87.7 million to date and has a global figure of $115.8 million.

Strutting into third place is House of Gucci with a gross of $21.8 million over five days. The adult audience hasn’t really been heading to the movies due to the pandemic but they did for House of Gucci as the film boasts the best opening for a film targeted to the adult demo in two years. Nearly half of ticket buyers, or 45 percent, were between the ages of 18-34, while 34 percent were 45 and older. The film earned a “B+” CinemaScore which is good for a film that has been split with critics (60% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing) and while the film may take a bit of a tumble next weekend, we have to call this a win for adult audiences because we haven’t seen them come out like this for a film in a while.

In fourth we have Eternals with a gross of $11.4 million over five days. The film fell a slim 29% and it experienced the Thanksgiving bump that it needed to make up for some of the more steep declines it witnessed after its opening weekend. Eternals has grossed $150.6 million to date at the domestic box office and after pulling in $10.2 million from 49 international markets, the film brings its global haul to $368.4 million.

Rounding out the top five is Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City which took in $8.8 million over the five-day weekend. This particular film struggled a bit over the holiday but it fell perfectly in line with expectations from Son Pictures which predicted an opening gross in the $8 million range. The film carries a $25 million budget and it’s unlikely to see that figure domestically because I’m predicting a swift decline for the movie next weekend but it could be saved from its global figure. The film is only open in 15 foreign markets where it grossed $5.1 million over the weekend. We’ll have to wait and see if this will be a one-and-done or the birth of a new franchise.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office? *Note the below chart reflects the five-day grosses for the top ten box office.