The holidays came early over the weekend and The Grinch opened huge at number one to kick off the season.
With an estimated $66 million, The Grinch claims the number one spot at the box office this weekend. The film currently ranks as the third largest opening weekend for an animated title in November behind The Incredibles ($70.4 million) & Frozen ($67.3 million). The film also has bragging rights as the largest Christmas movie opening of all-time and it should continue to play well through the holidays. The film earned an “A-” CinemaScore while critical reviews were mixed to negative. This is yet another example, after Venom and Bohemian Rhapsody, that critical reviews sometimes play no factor in what audiences want to see.
Falling to second is Bohemian Rhapsody with an estimated $30.8 million. That’s a drop of only 39.6% which shows that word of mouth for the film is exceptionally strong. The film has now grossed $100 million at the domestic box office and it performed equally strong overseas, bringing in an estimated $63 million, for an international total over $185 million and a global take that now tops $285 million.
Debuting in third is Overlord with an estimated $10.1 million. The film actually exceeded its box office tracking which had it at about $8 million and it was able to put a bit of distance between itself and The Girl in the Spider’s Web, which was expected to perform better than Overlord. The film came into the weekend as the sole wide release with positive reviews (81% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and it could earn some solid word of mouth as those who saw it really enjoyed it. The film earned a “B” CinemaScore which is solid for any horror film and this may be one to watch in the weeks ahead.
Dropping to fourth is The Nutcracker and the Four Realms which grossed an estimated $9.5 million. That’s a drop of 53% which shows that Disney is not seeing the holiday cheer from moviegoers and this is going to be a rare failure for the studio. The film has grossed $35.2 million domestically which isn’t a grand total considering its $120-125 million budget.
Rounding out the top five is The Girl in the Spider’s Web with an estimated $8 million. If this was meant to revive a franchise, this isn’t a positive start. The film received a “B” CinemaScore which isn’t bad but I don’t expect the film to be much of a factor in the coming weeks.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
