Weekend Box Office Report: November 25-27, 2016

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Moana flexes big box office muscles!

Disney's new Polynesian princess was the biggest attraction for audiences over Thanksgiving weekend, putting MOANA on top with an estimated $55.5 million!

The animated family feature, which also has Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson voicing beefy demigod Maui, has collected $81.1 million since its opening on Wednesday.

MOANA's three-day Thanksgiving opening ranks third-highest behind Disney's FROZEN ($67.3 million) and TOY STORY 2 ($57.3), and comes in second for the five-day holiday span behind FROZEN again (with $93.5 million).

While it is unlikely to match the phenomenon of FROZEN ($1.27 billion worldwide), the $150 million MOANA has already set sail toward becoming another smash for Disney. Critics almost universally enjoyed the island quest with a 98% average on Rotten Tomatoes (you can read the JoBlo review HERE).

The Harry Potter spinoff FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM moved down to second with $45.1 million, dipping only 39% from its first-place debut last week. The $180 million fantasy prequel from four-time Potter director David Yates has a ten-day domestic total of $156.2 million and has generated a total of $473.7 million worldwide.

Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme was in third place for the holiday weekend as DOCTOR STRANGE conjured another $13.3 million to bring its domestic total over $200 million. The spellbinding adventure has gathered $616 million worldwide, passing the $585 million global total of Marvel Cinematic Universe pioneer IRON MAN in 2008.

Opening in fourth was the new Brad Pitt/Marion Cotillard WWII movie ALLIED with $13 million. The R-rated romantic-thriller from director Robert Zemeckis has gathered $18 million since its Wednesday opening.

The spy movie's opening is lower than Pitt's previous R-rated war movie FURY, which started with $23.7 million and went on to $85.8 million domestic and $211 million worldwide. The $85 million ALLIED received mixed reviews from critics with a 62% average on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

The Amy Adams alien encounter ARRIVAL landed in fifth place with $13 million, bringing the Denis Villenueve-directed sci-fi thriller to a domestic total of $62.3 million. The animated musical TROLLS followed in sixth with $10.3 million as it nears $300 million worldwide, and the comedy-drama ALMOST CHRISTMAS came in seventh with $7.6 million for a domestic total of $36.6 million (on a $17 million reported cost).

Not having the best holiday was the R-rated sequel BAD SANTA 2, opening in eighth place with a $6.1 million weekend and $9 million since its start on Wednesday. The original BAD SANTA opened in 2003 with $12.2 million before it ultimately reached $60 million domestic (and became an annual viewing favorite for the season), but there didn't seem to be much goodwill toward another time around with Billy Bob Thornton's cranky Claus.

The second booze-soaked Christmas crime comedy cost a reported $26 million, and was tossed on the naughty list by critics with a 25% average on Rotten Tomatoes (you can check out the JoBlo review HERE).

Director Mel Gibson's WWII drama HACKSAW RIDGE rescued another $5.4 million in ninth place on its fourth weekend in release, while the R-rated Hailee Steinfeld comedy THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN closed out the list with $2.9 million.

Outside the chart, Ben Affleck's THE ACCOUNTANT departed with the Naomi Watts thriller SHUT IN and the Miles Teller boxing drama BLEED FOR THIS (after swinging for a single week in the Top 10). In limited release, the Dev Patel drama LION got a strong start with a per-screen average of $32k, while the Jessica Chastain political thriller MISS SLOANE opened with a $21k per-screen average. The acclaimed Casey Affleck drama MANCHESTER BY THE SEA expanded to 48 screens for an impressive $1.2 million weekend.

Crashing outside the Top 10 was the Howard Hughes drama RULES DON'T APPLY with a $1.5 million opening on nearly 2400 screens. Writer/director/star Warren Beatty was joined by future Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich, but audiences had little interest in the $25 million movie (its per-screen average was lower than the sixteenth weekend of PETE'S DRAGON).

Next weekend has Aaron Eckhart battling demons in the horror movie INCARNATE, while limited releases include Shia LaBeouf dealing with PTSD in MAN DOWN and Natalie Portman portraying First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in JACKIE.

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