By Chris Kavan - 11/13/16 at 08:50 PM CT
It was another great weekend at the box office as Doctor Strange easily topped the box office for a second straight weekend. Trolls likewise had a great hold while Arrival was the top among the newcomers and Almost Christmas had a solid opening as well. Only Shut In, the new horror/thriller missed the mark. All told, the box office was up an impressive 56% compared to the same weekend last year, as the top 12 brought in over $150 million. The biggest winner, however, continues to be Disney, who added even more to their already record-breaking year.
1) DOCTOR STRANGE
The Doctor is in. Doctor Strange had one of the best second-week holds among all the Marvel films, dropping just 49% - coming in just behind Thor (47%) and Iron Man (48%) and just ahead of The Avengers (50%). It added a little over $43 million to its total, which now stands at $153 million. It will shortly surpass its budget of $165 million. Even better, the foreign total of $339.6 million already puts it ahead of the likes of The Incredible Hulk ($129m), Captain America: The First Avenger ($194 million), Iron Man ($266 million), Thor ($268 million), Iron Man 2 ($310 million) and Ant-Man ($339 million). It has already made $492.6 worldwide and shows little sign of slowing down. Domestically, it will face stiff competition from some other wizards when Fantastic Beasts drops next weekend, but even so, a total in the $250 million range is still likely. That total brings Disney up to a record $2.3 billion for the year - topping the $2.278 billion from last year.
2)
TROLLS
Another film having an impressive hold on the box office was Trolls, The animated musical starring the likes of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake and Zooey Deschanel took just a 24.8% dip with a $35.05 million weekend, raising its total to $94 million. It is quickly approaching its $125 million budget - it has already hit $128.27 million foreign with a $222.28 worldwide total. Its total had already surpassed that of Storks ($70.2 million) and it will most likely pass the $107.5 million of Angry Birds before long. It faces even more competition than Doctor Strange when Fantastic Beasts hits, plus it also has Moana to contend with at the end of the month. If it can weather both those hits, it will likely still around into the holiday season.
3)
ARRIVAL
Top among the new releases was the Amy Adams sci-fi/drama Arrival. The find landed with a rock-solid $24 million. That is the best opening yet for the director, Denis Villeneuve, topping the $20 million of Prisoners. It was the second-best opening for Adams as the star, coming in just behind Enchanted's $34 million opening. The film drew an audience that was 52% male and 85% over 25. They gave the film just a so-so "B" Cinemascore but with a mild $47 million budget, arrival is looking to nearly double that total (probably coming in around $85 million). Considering how many adult-targeting films are out there right now, Arrival has done well to hold its own. Plus, Paramount really needed the win - as its last decent film was 10 Cloverfield Lane all the way back in March.
4)
ALMOST CHRISTMAS
The fourth-place position belongs to Almost Christmas, the ensemble comedy brought in $15.56 million. Director David E. Talbert has made a cottage industry out of producing feel-good films targeting largely African-American audiences. This film is no different, with the audience breaking down to 71% African-American - 56% female and 60% over 25. If the film can capitalize on the holiday season, it had a chance to stick around for a fair bit longer than its counterparts. It is probably looking at somewhere in the range of $35-$40 million - certainly not bad at all for a film with a $17 million budget.
5)
HACKSAW RIDGE
Rounding out the top five and the most probable beneficiary from the Veteran's Day holiday, Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge also saw a small drop of just 29.1%, adding in $10.77 million to its total, which now stands at $32.2 million. We'll see how it does next weekend where Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk will target the same audience (as well as the looming specter of Fantastic Beasts). If it can turn any of its good will towards awards-season talk, it could stick around longer, but those hopes are a bit of a long shot at this time.
Outside the top five: Speaking of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, Ang Lee's hyper-realistic opened in two select theaters that could take advantage of its 120 frames-per-second, and it earned $120,000 for a $60,000 per-theater average. It expands wide next week - we'll see how it does.
Shut In, the other major release of the weekend, didn't entire horror fans or audiences as a whole. It's 0% on Rotten Tomatoes didn't likely help. It did manage to open ahead of The Disappointments Room, but its $3.7 million, 7th-place opening means it's not going to be sticking around long.
In milestone news, The Accountant crossed the $75 million mark, bringing in $4.57 million (retaining its 6th place position) for a new total of $77.72 million.
Next week brings us the Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the coming-of-age film Edge of Seventeen, boxing drama Bleed for This and the expansion of Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk.
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