'Mockingjay' #1 On Thanksgiving, 'Creed' & 'Good Dinosaur' Feast on Seconds
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 topped the Thanksgiving weekend box office holding off all newcomers, which included Pixar's newest release, The Good Dinosaur. The weekend doesn't end with Katniss Everdeen's repeat effort, however, as Warner Bros. finally has something to brag about once again with the impressive opening of Creed while Fox's Victor Frankenstein becomes one of the worst wide release openings of all-time.
Beginning at the top, Mockingjay Part 2 scored an estimated $51.6 million for the three-day weekend, signifying only a 49.7% drop. Should these estimates hold, Part 2 will be the only film in the Hunger Games franchise to drop less than 50% in its second weekend. The film is still playing well behind all of its predecessors, but its clearly a massive hit for Lionsgate as it has now crossed $440 million worldwide
Coming in second is Pixar's The Good Dinosaur, a story that will be interesting to see play out in the media. On one hand it scored the fourth highest Thanksgiving weekend—three-day and five-day—opening of all time with an estimated $39.19 million and $55.5 million respectively.
On the other hand, those interested in the Pixar brand will be quick to note The Good Dinosaur's three-day signifies the worst opening for a Pixar film since Toy Story back in 1995. Obviously, the Wednesday opening played a role in that number being a little softer, but even if you compare the $55.5M five-day to previous Pixar three-day openings it ranks no higher than twelfth, five million behind the $60.1 million Cars tallied back in 2006. History aside, the "A" CinemaScore is a good sign for the pic, which doesn't have any new competition until Alvin and the Chipmunks The Road Chip arrives on December 18, but by that time all the talk will be about Star Wars: The Force Awakens anyway.
Overseas, The Good Dinosaur managed $28.7 million from 92 territories bringing its opening, worldwide cume to $84.2 million. It still has Australia, Korea, Japan and Brazil to open in along with China, though a China date has not yet been set.
Coming in third is the strong performance of Ryan Coogler's Creed starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Tessa Thompson. A co-production between WB and MGM, the film took in an estimated $30.1 million (the largest in the Rocky franchise not adjusted for inflation) for the three-day and an impressive $42.6 million since opening on Wednesday. Glowing reviews from critics were met with a loving, "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences. Along with excellent day-to-day holds, there's a strong case to be made for Creed topping $100 million over the course of its domestic run.
In fourth, Spectre enjoyed a great Thanksgiving hold, bringing in an estimated $12.8 million. The 14.9% drop is the second best Thanksgiving drop when compared to the previous three Bond films as its domestic cume now sits at $176 million and just shy of $750 million globally.
Still playing in less than one thousand theaters, Spotlight and Brooklyn secured spots in the weekend top ten with $4.49 million and $3.8 million respectively. Both films are vying hard for a spot at the awards season table, which brings us to The Danish Girl from Focus, which opened in four theaters on Friday. The film took in an estimated $185,000 for a $46,250 per theater average, finishing just behind the Weinsteins' Carol, which brought in an estimated $203,076, also playing in four theaters.
The worst news of the weekend is the awful performance of Fox's genre feature, Victor Frankenstein. Opening in 2,797 theaters the film only managed an estimated $2.35 million for the three-day and $3.4 million since opening on Wednesday. The three-day opening will be recorded as the worst opening for a film in 2,500+ theaters, but that comes with an asterisk considering it was a Wednesday opener. Nevertheless, the "C" CinemaScore suggests this might be the last time we hear about this one domestically. Overseas it did manage a decent $10 million from 24 markets, Russia being the strongest of the lot where it earned $2 million. Next weekend it adds 15 more markets including the UK.
Fox's weekend story, however, doesn't end there. The Martian brought its international cume to $326 million as it hit China theaters this weekend, where it made an estimated $50 million. By comparison, the film's five-day opening in China is 139% of Gravity's six-day opening and 158% of Interstellar's five-day opening. The Martian is now the ninth largest worldwide release of 2015 with $545.1 million, looking to pass Fifty Shades of Grey soon enough.
You can browse the three-day weekend results here and the five-day weekend results here. Actuals will be updated on Monday afternoon.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo and author Brad Brevet at @bradbrevet.
Beginning at the top, Mockingjay Part 2 scored an estimated $51.6 million for the three-day weekend, signifying only a 49.7% drop. Should these estimates hold, Part 2 will be the only film in the Hunger Games franchise to drop less than 50% in its second weekend. The film is still playing well behind all of its predecessors, but its clearly a massive hit for Lionsgate as it has now crossed $440 million worldwide
Coming in second is Pixar's The Good Dinosaur, a story that will be interesting to see play out in the media. On one hand it scored the fourth highest Thanksgiving weekend—three-day and five-day—opening of all time with an estimated $39.19 million and $55.5 million respectively.
On the other hand, those interested in the Pixar brand will be quick to note The Good Dinosaur's three-day signifies the worst opening for a Pixar film since Toy Story back in 1995. Obviously, the Wednesday opening played a role in that number being a little softer, but even if you compare the $55.5M five-day to previous Pixar three-day openings it ranks no higher than twelfth, five million behind the $60.1 million Cars tallied back in 2006. History aside, the "A" CinemaScore is a good sign for the pic, which doesn't have any new competition until Alvin and the Chipmunks The Road Chip arrives on December 18, but by that time all the talk will be about Star Wars: The Force Awakens anyway.
Overseas, The Good Dinosaur managed $28.7 million from 92 territories bringing its opening, worldwide cume to $84.2 million. It still has Australia, Korea, Japan and Brazil to open in along with China, though a China date has not yet been set.
Coming in third is the strong performance of Ryan Coogler's Creed starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Tessa Thompson. A co-production between WB and MGM, the film took in an estimated $30.1 million (the largest in the Rocky franchise not adjusted for inflation) for the three-day and an impressive $42.6 million since opening on Wednesday. Glowing reviews from critics were met with a loving, "A" CinemaScore from opening day audiences. Along with excellent day-to-day holds, there's a strong case to be made for Creed topping $100 million over the course of its domestic run.
In fourth, Spectre enjoyed a great Thanksgiving hold, bringing in an estimated $12.8 million. The 14.9% drop is the second best Thanksgiving drop when compared to the previous three Bond films as its domestic cume now sits at $176 million and just shy of $750 million globally.
Still playing in less than one thousand theaters, Spotlight and Brooklyn secured spots in the weekend top ten with $4.49 million and $3.8 million respectively. Both films are vying hard for a spot at the awards season table, which brings us to The Danish Girl from Focus, which opened in four theaters on Friday. The film took in an estimated $185,000 for a $46,250 per theater average, finishing just behind the Weinsteins' Carol, which brought in an estimated $203,076, also playing in four theaters.
The worst news of the weekend is the awful performance of Fox's genre feature, Victor Frankenstein. Opening in 2,797 theaters the film only managed an estimated $2.35 million for the three-day and $3.4 million since opening on Wednesday. The three-day opening will be recorded as the worst opening for a film in 2,500+ theaters, but that comes with an asterisk considering it was a Wednesday opener. Nevertheless, the "C" CinemaScore suggests this might be the last time we hear about this one domestically. Overseas it did manage a decent $10 million from 24 markets, Russia being the strongest of the lot where it earned $2 million. Next weekend it adds 15 more markets including the UK.
Fox's weekend story, however, doesn't end there. The Martian brought its international cume to $326 million as it hit China theaters this weekend, where it made an estimated $50 million. By comparison, the film's five-day opening in China is 139% of Gravity's six-day opening and 158% of Interstellar's five-day opening. The Martian is now the ninth largest worldwide release of 2015 with $545.1 million, looking to pass Fifty Shades of Grey soon enough.
You can browse the three-day weekend results here and the five-day weekend results here. Actuals will be updated on Monday afternoon.
Discuss this story with fellow Box Office Mojo fans on Facebook. On Twitter, follow us at @boxofficemojo and author Brad Brevet at @bradbrevet.
