Encanto leads subdued North American box office over Thanksgiving weekend

Los Angeles

EVEN a brand new Walt Disney animated film with a score by Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame failed to light up the box office over the normally strong Thanksgiving weekend, a sign that consumers are still cautious about going to cinemas.

Encanto, a musical about a family in Colombia with magical powers, generated an estimated US$40.3 million in ticket sales over the 5-day holiday weekend, Disney said on Sunday (Nov 28).

That was below some estimates even though the picture scored well with critics and was released only in theatres. Forecasts for the weekend ranged from a low of US$35 million from Disney to US$56.4 million from Boxoffice Pro.

Sony's Ghostbusters: Afterlife, another installment in the supernatural comedy franchise, made US$35.3 million in its second weekend, said the studio. House of Gucci, a new drama starring Adam Driver, Lady Gaga and Al Pacino, opened with US$21.8 million, said its distributor.

Thanksgiving has historically ranked among the busiest movie-going stretches of the year, buoyed by crowd pleasers that attract families or buzzy Oscar contenders aimed at adults.

But this year, revenue amounted to just US$142 million, researcher Comscore estimated in a release. In 2019, domestic ticket sales totalled US$262.3 million, led by Frozen II, Ford v Ferrari and Knives Out.

Disney has used the period to release some of its biggest family films, including 2013's Frozen and Moana 3 years later. But some parents are still hesitant to bring kids to cinemas this year, and many older film lovers are staying home to watch dramas on TV.

House of Gucci was recommended by 60 per cent of critics at Rotten Tomatoes. Sony's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opened with sales of US$8.8 million. It was recommended by just 26 per cent of reviewers.

The North American movie industry had hoped that the momentum generated in October - the best-grossing month of the pandemic era - would continue through the fourth quarter.

But through the first 3 weeks of November, sales were about US$284 million shy of October's total of more than US$637 million, showed Comscore. November featured a Marvel movie - Eternals - that underwhelmed at the box office.

Theatres faced heavy competition this week from streaming services. Disney+ rolled out the 3 episodes of director Peter Jackson's much-anticipated The Beatles: Get Back documentary, along with Hawkeye, a new Marvel series.

And King Richard, starring Will Smith as the father of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, was available on HBO Max, as well as in cinemas.

Encanto is about a family whose children have extraordinary powers - except for one, voiced by Stephanie Beatriz. A strong 93 per cent of critics recommended the movie, Rotten Tomatoes showed. BLOOMBERG