Weekend Box Office (November 22 - 24, 2019)
THIS WEEKEND Disney returned to energize what has been an awful November box office with the grand launch of the much-anticipated animated tentpole Frozen II which generated a colossal opening with an estimated $127M this weekend. The estimate could prove to be conservative with the final gross possibly climbing higher.
Launching in a November record 4,440 locations, the PG-rated sequel averaged a sensational $28,604 per site. It was the third largest opening weekend of all-time for any animated film behind the Pixar sequels Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory which were both June releases. Also it was the fifth biggest November bow ever. The three-day tally easily eclipsed the $93.6M five-day Thanksgiving holiday opening for the first Frozen back in 2013. That pop culture hit, which debuted in the number two spot, had amazing legs which led to $400.7M domestic and $1.28 billion worldwide.
Frozen fever spread worldwide as the global launch brought in an eye-popping $350.2M this weekend with some key markets still to come. International markets grossed a huge $223.2M led by China's $53M, Korea's $31.5M and Japan's $18.2M. With Italy, Russia, Australia, and Brazil still to come, Frozen 2 is well on its way to becoming Disney's sixth billion dollar blockbuster of 2019. Oh, and it still has the next Star Wars movie coming next month.
The star-driven Fox drama Ford v Ferrari fell from first to second place this weekend sliding a reasonable 49% to an estimated $16M. With $58M to date, the R-rated picture still has a shot at joining the $100M club.
Tom Hanks and Mister Rogers brought decency back with the new film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood which got what should be a long holiday run started with an estimated opening weekend of $13.5M. With an older target audience and no real upfront urgency, this PG-rated film from Sony is positioned to make its money in the long run, as it tries to stay in the spotlight against some major franchise films this season. Reviews have been glowing and audience feedback has been very positive too so word-of mouth should keep it going into the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Chadwick Boseman anchored his own cop action film and attracted a moderate result with 21 Bridges which debuted to an estimated $9.2M from 2,665 locations for a $3,452 average. Holdovers filled up the rest of the slots in the top ten. The period war film Midway dropped 45% to an estimated $4.7M giving Lionsgate $43.1M to date.
Dropping 45% to an estimated $4.6M was the family comedy Playing With Fire which has collected $31.6M thus far for Paramount. Warner Bros. saw a 40% sophomore frame decline for the drama The Good Liar which took in an estimated $3.4M for only $11.8M overall.
Collapsing in its second weekend was the action reboot Charlie's Angels which grossed an estimated $3.2M falling a steep 62%. Sony's per-theater average tumbled to three-digit territory with only $920 which averages out to roughly 10 tickets sold per show. Cume is a low $13.9M. Last Christmas followed with an estimated $3M, down 53%, and $27.8M to date which is decent these days for a rom-com with no huge stars.
The unstoppable fall smash Joker spent its eighth straight weekend in the top ten taking in an estimated $2.8M, off 47%, raising its cume to $326.9M. The DC hit has now passed Deadpool 2 to become the fifth biggest R-rated film of all-time and within days it will also surpass It to rank fourth where it should finish in the standings. Overseas rose to $708.8M with no China release putting global at $1.036 billion. Final could be $1.07 billion, although award nominations this winter could propel it higher.
The top ten films grossed an estimated $187.4M which was up 16% from last year's pre-Thanksgiving frame when Fantastic Beasts: Grindelwald opened at number one with $62.2M; but down 3% from 2017's similar weekend when Justice League debuted on top with $93.8M.
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| # | Title | Nov 22 - 24 | Nov 15 - 17 | % Chg. | Theaters | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | Distributor |
| 1 | Frozen II | $ 130,263,358 | 4,440 | 1 | $ 29,339 | $ 130,263,358 | Disney | ||
| 2 | Ford v Ferrari | 15,730,678 | 31,474,958 | -50.0 | 3,528 | 2 | 4,459 | 57,720,248 | Fox |
| 3 | A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood | 13,251,238 | 3,235 | 1 | 4,096 | 13,251,238 | Sony | ||
| 4 | 21 Bridges | 9,250,117 | 2,665 | 1 | 3,471 | 9,250,117 | STX | ||
| 5 | Midway | 4,640,673 | 8,505,531 | -45.4 | 2,627 | 3 | 1,767 | 43,048,234 | Lionsgate |
| 6 | Playing With Fire | 4,515,388 | 8,332,607 | -45.8 | 2,760 | 3 | 1,636 | 31,522,035 | Paramount |
| 7 | The Good Liar | 3,401,194 | 5,605,051 | -39.3 | 2,454 | 2 | 1,386 | 11,791,988 | Warner Bros. |
| 8 | Charlie's Angels | 3,236,460 | 8,351,109 | -61.2 | 3,452 | 2 | 938 | 14,002,052 | Sony |
| 9 | Last Christmas | 3,099,535 | 6,493,930 | -52.3 | 2,411 | 3 | 1,286 | 27,851,925 | Universal |
| 10 | Joker | 2,746,029 | 5,338,389 | -48.6 | 1,410 | 8 | 1,948 | 326,857,842 | Warner Bros. |
| 11 | Harriet | 2,330,100 | 4,590,540 | -49.2 | 1,346 | 4 | 1,731 | 36,024,155 | Focus |
| 12 | Maleficent: Mistress of Evil | 2,051,520 | 4,900,000 | -58.1 | 1,605 | 6 | 1,278 | 108,974,578 | Disney |
| 13 | Doctor Sleep | 1,834,377 | 6,006,949 | -69.5 | 1,476 | 3 | 1,243 | 28,751,119 | Warner Bros. |
| 14 | Jojo Rabbit | 1,588,234 | 2,760,252 | -42.5 | 787 | 6 | 2,018 | 16,140,947 | Fox Searchlight |
| 15 | Parasite | 1,255,325 | 1,861,256 | -32.6 | 433 | 7 | 2,899 | 16,498,762 | Neon |
| 16 | Terminator: Dark Fate | 1,250,589 | 4,326,526 | -71.1 | 1,022 | 4 | 1,224 | 59,581,886 | Paramount |
| 17 | Zombieland: Double Tap | 540,733 | 1,932,300 | -72.0 | 455 | 6 | 1,188 | 71,541,944 | Sony |
| 18 | The Addams Family | 474,425 | 1,745,661 | -72.8 | 837 | 7 | 567 | 95,514,844 | UA |
| 19 | Black and Blue | 320,106 | 920,026 | -65.2 | 257 | 5 | 1,246 | 21,395,063 | Sony |
| 20 | Countdown | 294,113 | 1,181,106 | -75.1 | 298 | 5 | 987 | 24,894,793 | STX |
| Top 5 | $ 173,136,064 | $ 63,158,135 | 174.1 | ||||||
| Top 10 | 190,134,670 | 89,599,064 | 112.2 | ||||||
| Top 20 | 202,074,192 | 105,550,852 | 91.4 | ||||||
| Top 20 vs. pre-T-giving 2018 | 202,074,192 | 169,414,538 | 19.3 |
Last Updated: November 24, 2019 at 12:45PM ET
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