Thanksgiving often brings a feast of new family movies at the box office, but Walt Disney Co.’s animated offering “Strange World ” sizzled with the audience outside the gates. The production, which had a reported budget of $180 million, grossed just $18.6 million in ticket sales in its first five days and $11.9 million over the weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Top spot for the holiday corridor, which runs Wednesday through Sunday, went to another Disney movie, Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which has grossed an additional $64 million in the last five days, $45.9 million from which came from over the weekend. The superhero sequel has reigned on the charts over three weekends and has grossed $675.6 million worldwide.
It was a quiet weekend despite a buffet of well-reviewed options, including the Korean War aviation drama “Devotion.””, the national expansion of Timothée Chalamet’s cannibal romance “Bones and All ” and “The Fabelmans” by Steven Spielberg..”
“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” also opened in 600 theaters nationwide for a limited week. It is the first time that a Netflix movie has been screened in the main theater chains in the country.including AMC, Regal and Cinemark, but neither Netflix nor the exhibitors provided sales estimates for the film, which won’t hit the streaming service until December 23. The first “Knives Out,” which was released by Lionsgate, opened to $41.4 million over Thanksgiving weekend in 2019.
Between the “Glass Onion” mystery and the “Strange World” miss, it was a reminder that exhibition business is still far from normal.
“This was not meant to be a big Thanksgiving weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. He noted that the market is still being affected by the effects of the pandemic on Hollywood’s production and release schedules.
Historically, Disney has “owned” the Thanksgiving weekend. Walt Disney Studios and Pixar animated titles represent the top six Thanksgiving openings of all time, including movies like “Frozen,” which grossed $93.6 million in 2013, “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” which grossed $84, 8 million in 2018 and “Moana,” which made $82.1 million when it opened in 2016. But it’s also been a rough two years at the company, which last week shocked the industry when it announced Bob Iger was returning to the company as Executive Director.replacing his handpicked successor Bob Chapek
“Strange World” opened in 4,714 locations on Wednesday, but it was clear from early previews that it was going to be slow. On Friday, he earned just $5.2 million. “Wakanda Forever,” by contrast, grossed $18.2 million on Friday from 4,258 theaters and has been in theaters for three weeks.
The debut of the animated adventure film is one of the biggest bombshells in the modern history of the Disney animation studio, akin to the $16 million Thanksgiving opening in 2002 of “Treasure Planet.” “Strange World” was directed by Don Hall and Qui Nguyen and follows a family of explorers and features the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union and Lucy Liu. Reviews have been mostly positive, with a score of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.
According to Dergarabedian, the lack of new family-oriented movies in recent weeks may have resulted in a “dulled” awareness of “Strange World.”
Third place went to “Devotion,” directed by JD Dillard and starring Jonathan Majors and Glenn Powel, which earned $9 million in its first five days and $6 million over the weekend from 3,405 locations. The film was made by Black Label Media and distributed by Columbia Pictures in 3,405 locations. The epic war is based on the true story of Jesse Brown, the first black aviator in the history of the US Navy, who along with his friend Tom Hudner were instrumental in turning the tide of one of the most brutal battles. of the Korean War.
” The menu”, the satirical fine-dining thriller starring Ralph Feinnes and Anya Taylor-Joy, came in fourth in its second weekend, with $7.4 million in the last five days and $5.2 million for the weekend. Fifth place went to “Black Adam”.
In sixth place for the weekend was Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans,” which is based on the filmmaker’s own family and adolescence. The Universal release expanded to 638 theaters, where it earned $3.1 million over five days and $2.2 million over the weekend.
United Artists Releasing presented “Bones and All” in 2,727 theaters, where it earned an estimated $3.6 million during its five days of release, $2.2 million of which came from the weekend. According to exit polls, about 74% of the audience was between the ages of 18 and 34. Luca Guadagnino’s R-rated film stars Chalamet and Taylor Russell as young cannibals on a road trip through the American Midwest.
In more limited releases, “The Inspection” by Elegance Bratton ” expanded to 32 screens and earned $103,033 in five days.
Total ticket sales are expected to generate around $125 million. That would be 12% less than last year, which featured releases like “Charm,” which opened to $40.6 million even with a COVID-19 variant on the rise. For theater owners, it puts even more pressure on “Avatar: The Way of Water” to bring a big windfall to close out the year. It releases on December 16.
“Usually Thanksgiving weekend is about kids and families going to the theater. This year, it’s a great mix of adult-oriented movies and that’s not a recipe for a box office fest in theaters,” Dergarabedian said. “But it’ll be back in a big way when Avatar opens.”
Estimated ticket sales from Friday to Sunday at theaters in the US and Canada, according to Comscore, with five days from Wednesday to Sunday in parentheses. The final national figures will be released on Monday.
1. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” $45.9 million ($64 million).
2. “Weird World,” $11.9 million ($18.6 million).
3. “Devotion,” $6 million ($9 million).
4. “The Menu,” $5.2 million ($7.4 million).
5. “Black Adam,” $3.4 million.
6. “The Fabelmans,” $2.2 million ($3.1 million).
7. “Bones and All,” $2.2 million ($3.6 million).
8. “Ticket to Paradise,” $1.9 million ($2.6 million).
9. “The Chosen Season 3: Episode 1 &2,” $1.6 million.
10. “She Said,” $1.1 million ($1.5 million).
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Follow AP film writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr.
