1. Frozen 2– $85.2M/$287.6M
Disney’s Frozen 2 put a cold chill on the Thanksgiving record books, earning $85.2M over the three-day weekend and a whopping $123.7 over the five-day holiday. That number bests the previous record holder, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire‘s $109M from 2013. The puny 34% drop shows Disney was smart to open this the week before Thanksgiving, making it a two-week-long box office blitz. Worldwide the numbers are staggering, as the sequel already has $739M.
2. Knives Out (review)- $27M/$41.7M
The presence of Frozen 2 couldn’t dull the edge from Rian Johnson’s star-studded whodunnit, Knives Out, which scored $42M over the five-day weekend and $70M worldwide. This is already shaping up to be the biggest non-Star Wars film for Johnson, besting the $66M domestic haul of Looper in 2012. We’ve often talked about there not being any true box office stars anymore, but an ensemble of this magnitude, featuring Chris Evans, Daniel Craig, Jamie Lee Curtis and many more, can still be a star-driven vehicle under the right guidance. The cast was always a huge draw, and having them under the direction of a fan-favorite director like Johnson. If Johnson does pursue a sequel following Craig’s southern gumshoe Benoit Blanc don’t be surprised to see another stellar cast surrounding him.
3. Ford v Ferrari– $13.2M/$81M
4. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood– $11.7/$34.3M
5. Queen & Slim (review)- $11.7M/$15.8M
The modern-day Bonnie & Clyde film Queen & Slim did strong business with $11.7M over the weekend and $15.8M in total. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, and was targeted primarily at the black audience eager for a new spin on the classic outlaw narrative. The marketing worked, as it did better in fewer locations, earning $9.3K in 1690 sites.
6. 21 Bridges– $5.8M/$19.4M
7. Playing with Fire– $4.2M/$39.2M
8. Midway– $3.9M/$50.2M
9. Joker– $2M/$330.6M
10. Last Christmas– $1.9M/$31.6M
