Disney’s Moana owned the Thanksgiving weekend box office with an estimated $55.52 million three-day start, or $81.10 million if counting from its Wednesday opening. That’s the sixth-highest three-day Thanksgiving weekend of all time, and the 13th-highest when adjusted for inflation — and many of those films ranking ahead of it through the years were fellow Disney releases, as the studio has often released films on Thanksgiving weekend. Moana earned an “A” average CinemaScore from an audience that was 55 percent female, 72 percent families, and 45 percent under age 16.
(Read more about Moana with Boxoffice Pro’s feature article including an interview with the two directors here.)
In second place was the Warner Bros. fantasy Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which declined an estimated 39.4 percent to take in $45.10 million three-day, or $65.7 million for the five-day holiday weekend.
The three non-Moana new wide releases all started out a bit more lackluster than their studios might have liked, especially given that Thanksgiving is usually one of the biggest weekends of the year. Paramount’s war drama Allied came in fourth place with an estimated $13.0 million three-day start, or $18.0 million for the five-day holiday weekend. Broad Green Pictures’ Bad Santa 2 came in a disappointing eighth place with an estimated $6.10 million three-day, or $9.03 million for the five-day holiday weekend. And Fox’s Rules Don’t Apply wasn’t expected to be a huge blockbuster, but was expected to have at least debuted in the top 10. It didn’t, with an 12th place start through an estimated $1.57 million three-day start, or $2.17 million for the five-day holiday weekend.
In limited release, Loving and Moonlight both continued their so-far excellent runs with a $1.69 million three-day weekend for the former and a $1.30 million three-day weekend for the latter. Weinstein Company’s awards contender Lion started out with $128 thousand in only four theaters, while EuropaCorp’s political drama Miss Sloane began with $63 thousand in only three theaters. (Read our interview with Lion director Garth Davis here.)
The top 10 films this weekend earned an estimated cumulative $170.70 million. That’s 1.7 percent above the 167.80 million earned by the top 10 on this weekend last year, when The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 led for the second straight frame with $52.00 million. It’s also 16.4 percent above the $146,558,755 earned by the top 10 last weekend.
Overseas Update:
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them continued its overseas dominance with an amazing $132.0 million overseas weekend, led by $41.1 million in China. The film has now earned $317.5 million overseas total, and $473.7 million globally.
Moana made a decent $16.3 million overseas weekend in 12 markets, led by $12.3 million in China.
Studio Weekend Estimates for Friday, November 25 – Sunday, November 27, 2016:
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moana | $55,523,000 | — | 3,875 | — | $14,329 | $81,108,000 | 1 | Disney |
| 2 | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | $45,100,000 | -39% | 4,144 | 0 | $10,883 | $156,228,123 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| 3 | Doctor Strange | $13,369,000 | -25% | 3,008 | -686 | $4,444 | $205,093,475 | 4 | Disney |
| 4 | Allied | $13,000,000 | — | 3,160 | — | $4,114 | $18,022,000 | 1 | Paramount |
| 5 | Arrival | $11,250,000 | -7% | 2,442 | 107 | $4,607 | $62,387,300 | 3 | Paramount |
| 6 | Trolls | $10,340,000 | -41% | 3,322 | -623 | $3,113 | $135,136,662 | 4 | Fox / DreamWorks Animation |
| 7 | Almost Christmas | $7,610,000 | 5% | 1,769 | -610 | $4,302 | $36,688,865 | 3 | Universal |
| 8 | Bad Santa 2 | $6,106,658 | — | 2,920 | — | $2,091 | $9,031,191 | 1 | Broad Green Pictures |
| 9 | Hacksaw Ridge | $5,450,000 | -18% | 2,332 | -551 | $2,337 | $52,248,382 | 4 | Lionsgate |
| 10 | The Edge of Seventeen | $2,960,000 | -38% | 1,945 | 0 | $1,522 | $10,273,770 | 2 | STX Entertainment |
| 11 | Rules Don’t Apply | $1,575,000 | — | 2,382 | — | $661 | $2,175,000 | 1 | 20th Century Fox |
| 12 | Bleed for This | $949,898 | -60% | 1,549 | 0 | $613 | $4,253,602 | 2 | Open Road |
| 13 | Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk | $210,000 | -77% | 1,176 | 0 | $179 | $1,593,724 | 3 | Sony / TriStar |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loving | $1,691,000 | 94% | 421 | 283 | $4,017 | $4,069,771 | 4 | Focus |
| 2 | Moonlight (2016) | $1,300,000 | -13% | 618 | -32 | $2,104 | $8,624,896 | 6 | A24 |
| 3 | Dear Zindagi | $1,082,894 | — | 153 | — | $7,078 | $1,502,078 | 1 | Reliance Entertainment |
| 4 | The Accountant | $1,057,000 | -51% | 556 | -867 | $1,901 | $83,240,144 | 7 | Warner Bros. |
| 5 | Nocturnal Animals | $816,000 | 66% | 126 | 89 | $6,476 | $1,669,834 | 2 | Focus |
| 6 | Jack Reacher: Never Go Back | $370,000 | -63% | 345 | -765 | $1,072 | $57,425,613 | 6 | Paramount |
| 7 | Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween | $353,000 | -69% | 339 | -832 | $1,041 | $72,858,654 | 6 | Lionsgate |
| 8 | Shut In | $240,000 | -85% | 277 | -1729 | $866 | $6,712,128 | 3 | EuropaCorp Films |
| 9 | Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children | $220,000 | -41% | 215 | -249 | $1,023 | $86,145,793 | 9 | Fox |
| 10 | Deepwater Horizon | $179,000 | 28% | 187 | -14 | $957 | $61,111,815 | 9 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| 11 | Inferno | $165,000 | -75% | 165 | -605 | $1,000 | $33,797,229 | 5 | Sony / Columbia |
| 12 | Pete’s Dragon (2016) | $99,000 | -20% | 127 | -35 | $780 | $76,139,941 | 16 | Disney |
| 13 | Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life | $87,500 | -43% | 132 | -75 | $663 | $19,958,291 | 8 | CBS Films / Lionsgate |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manchester By the Sea | $1,250,294 | 387% | 48 | 44 | $26,048 | $1,651,933 | 2 | Roadside / Amazon |
| 2 | The Eagle Huntress | $278,292 | 53% | 64 | 25 | $4,348 | $923,643 | 4 | Sony Pictures Classics |
| 3 | Lion | $128,368 | — | 4 | — | $32,092 | $128,368 | 1 | Weinstein Company |
| 4 | Elle (2016) | $123,256 | -3% | 36 | 12 | $3,424 | $404,756 | 3 | Sony Pictures Classics |
| 5 | A Man Called Ove | $110,296 | -55% | 81 | -84 | $1,362 | $3,017,322 | 9 | Music Box Films |
| 6 | Miss Sloane | $63,000 | — | 3 | — | $21,000 | $63,000 | 1 | EuropaCorp |
| 7 | Finding Dory | $42,000 | -44% | 78 | -43 | $538 | $486,308,073 | 24 | Disney |
| 8 | Seasons | $26,723 | — | 13 | — | $2,056 | $26,723 | 1 | Music Box Films |
| 9 | Queen of Katwe | $26,000 | -46% | 30 | -51 | $867 | $8,742,834 | 10 | Disney |
| 10 | The Love Witch | $21,000 | -44% | 15 | 13 | $1,400 | $105,434 | 3 | Oscilloscope Pictures |
| 11 | Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened | $17,670 | -25% | 3 | 1 | $5,890 | $52,966 | 2 | Abramorama |
| 12 | Harry & Snowman | $12,000 | -65% | 12 | -12 | $1,000 | $501,446 | 9 | FilmRise |
| 13 | Certain Women | $10,450 | — | 19 | — | $550 | $1,032,942 | 7 | |
| 14 | Daughters of the Dust (2016 re-release) | $9,068 | — | 3 | — | $3,023 | $21,692 | 2 | Cohen Media Group |
| 15 | Christine (2016) | $8,667 | — | 23 | — | $377 | $270,750 | 7 | The Orchard |
| 16 | The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years | $7,140 | -68% | 7 | -5 | $1,020 | $2,882,251 | 11 | Abramorama |
| 17 | Evolution | $6,927 | — | 3 | — | $2,309 | $6,927 | 1 | IFC Midnight |
| 18 | Don’t Think Twice | $5,150 | -26% | 3 | -2 | $1,717 | $4,417,983 | 19 | The Film Arcade |
| 19 | Always Shine | $4,500 | — | 1 | — | $4,500 | $4,500 | 1 | Oscilloscope |
| 20 | American Pastoral | $3,100 | -59% | 14 | -6 | $221 | $540,770 | 6 | Lionsgate |
| 21 | Greater | $776 | — | 1 | — | $776 | $1,987,603 | 14 | Hammond Entertainment |
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