Weekend Box Office: Coco Tops Justice League as Wonder Continues Strong Run

By Chris Kavan - 11/26/17 at 09:15 PM CT

Hope you got your fill of holiday goodness, because Thanksgiving is over and Hollywood certainly got their fill. It was no surprise that Disney's latest animated film ruled the long holiday frame, as Coco easily topped the box office. Justice League continues to somewhat struggle on the domestic front, but its overseas total looks much brighter in comparison. The expansions of a few limited release films to wide releases met with varying results while last week's strong opening for Wonder continued in its second weekend. While it wasn't one for the record books, it was still a strong holiday frame, up 4% compared to last year. We'll have to wait and see if December can deliver one final push to make 2017 outperform last year.

1) COCO

Pixar has a great history of opening strong over the Thanksgiving holiday and thanks to strong reviews and equally strong audience response, Coco was no exception. The latest offering from Pixar took first place with $49 over the weekend and $71.2 million for the holiday. That is fourth largest for both the weekend and five-day Thanksgiving period - coming in just ahead of Tangled. Disney/Pixar now owns nine of the top 10 Thanksgiving spots with Four Christmases being the only live-action film among them. It scored great with audiences, earning an "A+" Cineamascore, with 53% of said audience being female and 55% coming in under the age of 25. Looking ahead, if Coco follows the pattern as Tangled and Moana, and drops around 50% in its second weekend, it would be looking at a domestic total around the $215 million mark. Internationally, the film is also doing great. Aside from its record-setting $53 million in Mexico, it opened in China to $18.2 million, the second-best opening for a Disney animated film behind Zootopia, with a total international take of $82.3 million for a worldwide cume of $153 million. About the only thing that going to slow down Disney is... Disney. Star Wars: The Last Jedi is only a couple of weeks out, and that will likely crush everything in its path. Still, Coco looks to have a good ride, if not a record-breaking one.

2) JUSTICE LEAGUE

Even though Justice League topped the box office last weekend, the numbers were a bit grim for the superhero squad. In its second weekend out, Justice League dipped 57% and brought in $40.7 million for the weekend and $59.6 million for the Thanksgiving time frame. That 57% drop was much better than Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad (which fell between 67%-69%), but it made about the same in its second weekend as those films. It was also a much bigger drop than the MCU films in general, with all but eight (out of 17) of those films holdiang up better than Justice League. At $172 million, it is running about 9% ahead of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and its $481.3 million global take is decent, but the opening weekend of Batman v. Superman was $425 million alone by comparison. So Justice League is nowhere out of the woods yet. It should top $250 million domestic and about $650 million worldwide, but, as good as those numbers are, it would still be somewhat disappointing for what is supposed to be DC's answer to The Avengers. It's not likely to sound the death knell for the series, but it may scale back future releases (aside from Wonder Woman 2).

3) WONDER

The little inspiration that could stood strong in its second weekend out. Dipping a light 19%, Wonder earned $22.3 million for the weekend and $32.2 million for the holiday, bringing its total to $69.44 million. The Stephen Chbosky had a budget of just $20 million, thus (at least in North America) it is Lionsgate biggest success of 2017. It might not quite break out as big as The Blind Side, but it is playing much like that feel-good film, and could easily top $125 million in the long run. That is an excellent result, and could be one of the top-grossing films for Julia Roberts in a long Hollywood career. Given these results, it's little, ah, wonder that Wonder is being given an Oscar push by the studio. We'll see if that pays off, but audiences are certainly happy with this inspirational story.

4) THOR: RAGNAROK

The other big superhero movie in theaters also had a great holiday hold, dropping just 22.2% and adding $16.8 million for the weekend ($25 million for the holiday) and raising its total to $277.5 million. That means Thor: Ragnarok reached the top 10 for all MCU films on the domestic front and, with $790 million global, stands at seventh place on that list. It should easily coast across the $300 million mark in the coming weeks and nearly the $850 million mark globally in the process. Unlike Justice League, Ragnarok is in very good shape and proves the MCU is still very much in control.

5) DADDY'S HOME 2

Rounding out the top five, and with almost the best hold among all the films in the top 12 (not expanding), Daddy's Home 2 dipped a mere 8.2% with a $13.25 million weekend and $18.6 including the holiday frame. That gives the comedic sequel a $72.66 million total. It is still looking at a domestic total above the $100 million mark, though it won't catch up to the $150 million of the original. It is finally starting to open on the international front with a number one opening in the UK with $6.3 million. It has only added $15 million thus far, but should grow in the weeks to come.

Outside the top five: The average reviews for Roman J. Israel, Esq. led to an average opening in wide release with $4.5 million for the weekend (9th place) and $6.2 million including the holiday. Audiences were in agreement with critics, awarding the film a so-so "B" Cinemascore. Audiences lined up with 52% male and 77% coming in over 25.

Meanwhile, the expansion for Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri led to similar results - both very good. Three Billboards expanded from 53 to 614 theaters and brought in $4.4 million ($5.85 for the holiday) for a 10th place finish and a $7.62 million total. Lady Bird was just behind in 11th place with $4.04 million ($5.37 million for the holiday) and a $10.7 million total. Both films look to stick around as strong awards contenders.

In limited release news, Call Me By Your Name opened with $404,874 in just four theaters for a $101,219 per-theater average, topping Lady Bird as the best per-theater average for 2017.

Next week brings us... nothing! But since I forgot to mention it last weekend, I will showcase the excellent Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as the only new films are in limited release.

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