by Conan Simmons – November 29, 2021 – 4:13 am
Thanksgiving provided theaters with an extended weekend session as the holiday fell on Thursday so all wide releases debuted on Wednesday with added Tuesday night showings. This creates a somewhat distorted box office result as the numbers are good overall but would be much better if only showing a normal Friday thru Sunday weekend. For example, Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ made more this weekend than last weekend as long as you count the full holiday weekend, if only Friday thru Sunday is counted it fell a little short. As it was a holiday weekend, we shall count the full holiday numbers (as we always do).
To no surprise to readers of On Genre Disney’s latest animated feature, ‘Encanto’, did pretty well in theaters debuting at number 1. Starring the voice of Stephanie Beatriz and showcasing songs by Lin Manuel Miranda the animated hit is likely poised to be a contender for the Oscars just around the corner. ‘Encanto’ tells the story of a magical village in Colombia that comes under threat of losing its magic until the one apparent non-magical inhabitant of the village can save the day.
Last weekend’s winner ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ naturally fell to second place at the box office while still putting up impressive numbers earning $35.3 million, not far behind ‘Encanto’s $40.3 million. Directed by Jason Rietman the film stars McKenna Grace and Paul Rudd.
Director Ridley Scott, whose last film ‘The Last Duel’ didn’t do too well in theaters, managed to find salvation with audiences over the Thanksgiving holiday as his true crime drama ‘House of Gucci’ made one of the best debuts for a non-juvenile film bringing in $21.8 million. Based on the real-life 1995 murder of fashion designer Maurizio Gucci orchestrated by his wife, the film stars Adam Driver and Lady Gaga in the pivotal roles with a top supporting cast of Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek and Jared Leto who is likely in contention to win his second Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Superheroes weren’t left out over the holiday as Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ managed to wring out a gain at the box office, as stated previously. Scrapping up $11.4 million it’s not too much more than it made Friday thru Sunday in the previous weekend. Like ‘House of Gucci’, ‘Eternals’ also features Salma Hayek.
Filling out the Thanksgiving Weekend Box Office Top 5 is the latest installment of the long running, based on a video game, horror franchise ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’. Taking in a modest sum of $8.8 million the film is on track to make a profit as it boasts an equally modest budget of around $25 million. Directed by Johannes Roberts, taking over from regular series director Paul W.S. Anderson, the horror flick stars Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Donal Logue and Neal McDonough.
Animation and horror remain two very reliable genres as the holiday weekend shows. Films in those genres may not boast the biggest numbers out there when compared to superhero fantasy films but they do usually have healthier staying power, especially animated films.
The box office is expected to look very much the same next weekend albeit with less money being made. The only new wide release next weekend is the dramatic oddity ‘Wolf’ starring Lily-Rose Depp and directed by Nathalie Biancheri. It is very unlikely to make it into the Weekend Box Office Top 5.
Real change to the box office isn’t expected until December 10 when Steven Spielberg releases his remake of the 1961 Best Picture Oscar winner, ‘West Side Story’. The musical will probably do pretty well and should secure the top spot at theaters that weekend.
Of course, the next guaranteed hit at the box office will swing into theaters December 17 as Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ brings multiple villains and possibly more Spider-Men from previously non-Marvel Cinematic Universe movies into the franchise phenomenon. It should be a big weekend for theaters because opposite the wall-crawler will be the release of Guillermo Del Toro’s remake of the 1947 psychological drama ‘Nightmare Alley’. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blancett, Toni Collette with Willem Dafoe and Del Toro regular Ron Perlman.
Bradley Cooper can now be seen in Paul Thomas Anderson’s arthouse hit ‘Licorice Pizza’ playing in limited release before opening nationwide just in time for Christmas.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5 (November 24-28, 2021 – Thanksgiving holiday)
- ‘Encanto’ – $40.3 million – animated (debut)
- ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife’ – $35.3 million – fantasy (drop $8.7 million, 20% down)
- ‘House of Gucci’ – $21.8 million – drama (debut)
- ‘Eternals’ – $11.4 million – fantasy (drop $600k, 6% down)
- ‘Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City’ – $8.8 million – horror (debut)
Total for the extended holiday weekend comes to $117.6 million. It is an increase of $45.9 million, or 64% up for an obvious gain over last weekend’s normal three-day span of $71.7 million.