Disney animation Encanto enchants Thanksgiving box office
LOS ANGELES – Disney has reclaimed its rightful place at the top of Thanksgiving box office charts.
Encanto, the studio’s new animated musical fable, collected US$40 million (S$55 million) since Wednesday, a robust tally at a time when family audiences haven’t been eager to return to cinemas.
With original music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, it tells the story of a family in the mountains of Colombia endowed with special powers – except for daughter Mirabel, who ends up having to save the others.
It’s become holiday tradition for Disney to release a family friendly movie around Turkey Day, and Encanto - which is currently showing in cinemas here - serves as a promising sign that parents are gaining confidence to bring their young kids back to the movies.
The movie’s five-day total is considerably short of the studio’s recent Thanksgiving releases, such as Frozen II in 2019 (US$123.7 million), Ralph Breaks The Internet in 2018 (US$84.6 million) and Coco in 2017 (US$71 million).
However, Encanto has landed the best opening weekend for an animated film during the pandemic.
Moviegoers also feasted on MGM’s A-list crime drama House Of Gucci, which brought in US$14.2 million over the traditional weekend and US$21.8 million in its first five days of release for a third-place finish.
Because of its US$75 million production budget, House Of Gucci - which is directed by Ridley Scott, stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver and Jared Leto and opens in cinemas here on Dec 30 - will rely on substantial overseas ticket sales to turn a profit.
Already, it has earned US$12.8 million from 40 international countries, bringing its worldwide total to $34 million.
Encanto was similarly pricey, costing the studio US$120 million to make before accounting for marketing fees.
Also new to theatres this weekend is Sony’s Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, a reboot of the long-running horror series, landed in fifth place.
The action thriller earned US$8.8 million over the five-day holiday stretch, a result that fell short of expectations.
But as it cost only US$25 million to produce, Raccoon City won’t have as much of an uphill battle to get out of the red. - REUTERS
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