'Coco' beats 'Justice League' at Thanksgiving box office

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Disney-Pixar’s “Coco” handily won the Thanksgiving holiday box office over the second weekend of Warner Bros.-DC Entertainment’s “Justice League,” with 71.2 million US dollars at 3,987 North American sites during the Wednesday-Sunday period.

“Justice League” pulled in 60 million US dollars at 4,051 locations during the same timeframe. The superhero action-adventure, the fifth in the DC Extended Universe, has totaled 172 million US dollars in its first 10 days.

“Coco” posted for the third-best Thanksgiving holiday opening ever, trailing three other Disney titles – “Frozen” with 93 million US dollars in 2013, “Moana” with 82 million US dollars in 2017 and “Toy Story 3” with 80 million US dollars in 2010.

Audiences surveyed by comScore’s PostTrak gave “Coco” strong ratings with 66% calling it “excellent,” and another 23% rating it “very good.” Surveys also showed 77% of viewers saying they would “definitely recommend” the movie to friends and 20% saying they would watch it again in a theater.

“Coco,” directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina, is based on the traditions surrounding the Day of the Dead holiday in Mexico and centers on a 12-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a musician and explores his family history in the Land of the Dead. The studio has not released a price for the movie. Disney-Pixar titles are usually budgeted in the 175 to 200 million US dollars range.

“Justice League,” which teams up the DC characters in the same manner as Disney-Marvel’s superheroes, is already in the top 15 of titles released in 2017 and has opened with a B+ CinemaScore. It’s been the lowest performer among the DC Extended Universe. “Wonder Woman” grossed 206.3 million US dollars in its first 10 days in June and “Suicide Squad” took in 222.6 million US dollars in its first 10 days in August 2016.

World Premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures’ Justice League – Arrivals – Los Angeles, California, US, 13/11/2017 - (L-R) Cast members Diane Lane, Joe Morton, J.K. Simmons, Gal Gadot, Ray Fisher, Connie Nielsen, Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Amber Heard, Jason Momoa and Henry Cavill pose. /Reuters Photo

Gal Gadot stars as Wonder Woman along with Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as the Flash, and Ray Fisher as Cyborg as the superheroes team up to save the world. Warner Bros. has not disclosed the production cost, which is believed to be as much as 300 million US dollars.

Lionsgate’s family drama “Wonder” continued to show impressive traction in third place with about 32 million US dollars at 3,140 locations for a 10-day total of more than 69 million US dollars. The film, which stars Jacob Tremblay as a fifth grader with a facial deformity, has a modest 20 million US dollar budget.

World Premiere of Thor: Ragnarok – Los Angeles, California, US, 11/10/2017 - (L-R) Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi, Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hiddleston and Mark Ruffalo. /Reuters Photo

Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” finished fourth with about 24 million US dollars at 3,281 sites, lifting its 24-day domestic total to 277 million US dollars. It’s topped “Despicable Me 3” as the sixth-highest grosser of 2017.

Fox’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and Paramount’s “Daddy’s Home 2” tied for fifth over the five days, both with 18.6 million US dollars. “Orient Express” has totaled 74.2 million US dollars domestically in its first 17 days while “Daddy’s Home 2” has earned 72.7 million US dollars in the same period.

Sony Classics saw stellar returns from its platform release of coming-of-age drama “Call Me by Your Name” with 404,874 US dollars at four venues in Los Angeles and New York since its Friday launch for an impressive per-screen average of 101,219 US dollars. That’s the best-limited opening of 2017, topping the “Lady Bird” launch with 364,437 US dollars on four screens, and the highest since “La La Land” opened with 881,104 US dollars at five venues last December.

Focus Features’ “Darkest Hour,” starring Oldman as Winston Churchill, opened strongly with a 248,000 US dollars at four theaters for the five days. The well-reviewed film - which centers on Churchill's early days as prime minister in 1940 with a possible Nazi invasion of Britain looming - is playing at the Arclight and Landmark in Los Angeles and the Union Square and Lincoln Plaza in New York City.

The holiday weekend is one of the busiest moviegoing periods of the year. According to comScore, this year’s five-day Thanksgiving weekend saw total grosses his 268 million US dollars - 7.5 million US dollars better than last year’s when “Moana” opened with 82 million US dollars, and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” taking in 65 million US dollars in its second weekend.

Source(s): Reuters