Until “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” arrives in two weeks, there will be no new wide releases at the box office as casual moviegoers are pulled away from theaters with the start of the holiday season. But while post-Thanksgiving weekend has historically been a slower one for movie theaters, there are still plenty of popular films now playing, foremost among them being Pixar’s “Coco.”
The animated film is estimated to make $26.1 million in its second weekend, a 46 percent drop from the $50.8 million it made from Fri.-Sun. on Thanksgiving weekend. “Coco” now has a domestic total of $108.7 and a global total of $280 million. In China, where “Coco” had the second-highest opening weekend for an animated film, the film’s message of the importance of family is resonating with moviegoers thousands of miles away from Mexico. The film is on pace to become the highest grossing Pixar/Disney Animation release in China, currently third on that list with $75.6 million after just 10 days in theaters.
Meanwhile, “Justice League” still won’t hit the $200 million domestic mark after its third weekend in theaters, with $16.5 million for this frame and a running total of $197.3 million. By comparison, “Fantastic Beasts,” which “Justice League” is 8 percent ahead of in box office totals, made $18.1 million in its third weekend, while “Batman v Superman” made $23.3 million and “Wonder Woman” made $41.2 million.
“Wonder” continues to punch above its weight class, as the $20 million family film expands to 3,450 theaters and brings in an estimated $12.5 million to push its total to $88 million. “Thor: Ragnarok” is approaching the $300 million mark with $9.7 million in its fifth weekend to push its total to $291.4 million, with a global total of $816 million. “Daddy’s Home 2” completes the top five with $7.5 million for a total of $82.8 million.
While there were no wide releases to give the box office another jolt, revenue is still up 8 percent year-to-year for the first weekend of December. This is thanks no only to the popular wide releases already in theaters, but also to the handful of Oscar contenders making their presence felt in limited release. Two more of those films entered the fray this weekend: A24’s “The Disaster Artist” and Fox Searchlight’s “The Shape of Water.”
“The Disaster Artist,” James Franco’s biopic about Tommy Wiseau and the making of his infamous film, “The Room,” opened in 19 theaters and grossed $1.2 million. With a per screen average of $64,254, it’s only the sixth film to post a PSA of over $60,000 from more than ten screens. “The Shape of Water,” Guillermo Del Toro’s sci-fi romance, opened on two screens in New York and grossed $166,800. For more on the indie box office, check our report here.