Weekend Wrap-Up: Ralph, Creed Lead Box Office, Break Records
November 27, 2018
The weekend box office was more lucrative than predicted with both Ralph Breaks the Internet and Creed II breaking records. Depending on how technical you want to be. Ralph Breaks the Internet led the way with $55.67 million over the three-day weekend and $84.47 million over five. This is technically the record for biggest Thanksgiving opening, as Frozen had a prestige opening the weekend before and only expanded wide on Thanksgiving. Nearly every other film on this week’s list also topped predictions helping this weekend to rise 26% from last weekend hitting $216 million over the three-day period. This was also 15% higher than the same weekend last year, which is a more important result. I was really expecting 2018’s lead over 2017 to be down significantly from its peak; however, instead it has stretched its lead to $1.04 billion or 11% at $10.53 billion to $9.49 billion.
Ralph Breaks the Internet opened with $55.67 million / $84.47 million over the three-day / five-day weekend. This is technically the record for biggest Thanksgiving opening, as Frozen had a prestige opening the weekend before and only expanded wide on Thanksgiving. Granted, most people will still continue to call Frozen the record-holder here, which is fine, as it is a minor distinction. The film’s reviews are 86% positive and it earned an A minus from CinemaScore, so its legs should be solid. They very likely won’t be as long as Coco or Moana, as this film did have a lower internal multiplier. That said, it is practically guaranteed $200 million domestically, which is a step up from the first film.
Creed II also improved upon its predecessor with an opening of $35.57 million / $56.01 million. Its reviews are almost as good as the above film’s were and its CinemaScore was even better with a straight A. The film will have no trouble getting to $100 million shortly, while it could still be in semi-wide release by the beginning of 2019.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was in a virtual tie with Dr Seuss’ The Grinch and the pair switched places, depending on if you look at the three-day or five-day weekends. The Crimes of Grindelwald pulled in $29.38 million / $42.38 million over the weekend for a total of $116.55 million. It will become the first film in the Harry Potter franchise to not reach $200 million domestically. It will still be profitable, but if the next installment in the franchise suffers a similar decline, then installments four and five might be in trouble.
Dr Seuss’ The Grinch earned $30.39 million / $42.07 million lifting its running tally to $180.49 million. The film will reach $200 million domestically shortly, while it should hold off Ralph Breaks the Internet to become the biggest hit released in November.
Bohemian Rhapsody landed in fifth place with $14.00 million / $19.52 million for a total of $152.16 million after four weeks of release. This is more than enough to cover its production budget and a sizable percent of its advertising budget as well.
Instant Family was next with $12.31 million / $17.24 million for a two-week total $35.56 million. This is a fine result, but nothing special.
Robin Hood only managed seventh place with $9.20 million / $14.30 million over the weekend. With some of the worst reviews of any wide release and it only managed a B from CinemaScore, so its legs will likely be short, short enough that theater owners will be looking to drop it before December’s big hits start coming out.
Widows was the only sophomore film we haven’t already talked about. It earned eighth place with $8.23 million / $10.85 million for a total of $25.86 million after two weeks of release. The gap between its critical reception and its box office results is disappointing.
Green Book expanded into just over 1,000 theaters earning $5.50 million / $7.46 million. Its theater average is enough to warrant further expansion, while it’s the kind of movie that Awards Season voters love, so that should help as well.
- Ralph Breaks the Internet Comparisons
- Creed II Comparisons
- Robin Hood Comparisons
Filed under: Weekend Wrap-up, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, Widows, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Robin Hood, Ralph Breaks The Internet, Bohemian Rhapsody, Creed II, Instant Family, Green Book, Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them