Right now it appears that 2018 will definitely set a new box office record (for highest gross revenue, not for the number of tickets sold). At this point 2018 is running about 11% over last year, and 6.4% over the record performance of 2016.
Ralph Breaks the Internet’s 3-day total of $55.7 million represents an improvement over the 2012 opening of Wreck-It Ralph, which earned $49 million over its early November debut weekend. With an 86% positive rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a solid “A-“ CinemaScore from audiences, Ralph Breaks the Internet, which continued the tradition of Disney/Pixar dominating the Thanksgiving box office, appears set for a solid run. Fifty-six percent of the opening weekend audience for Ralph Breaks the Internet was under 25. The major demographic change from Wreck-It Ralph, which skewed male by 55%, was on the gender side where the sequel skewed slightly female (51%).
The biggest improvement in Ralph Wrecks the Internet’s performance however, was overseas where it earned $41.5, and where it is tracking about 3 times better than Wreck-It Ralph, which earned $281.8 million overseas back in 2012.
The boxing drama Creed II earned $55.8 million over the 5-day period and $35.3 million for the 3-day, a $16 million improvement over the first Creed film, which ended up earning $109.7 million in the domestic market in 2015. Creed II’s 5-day total is the seventh largest Thanksgiving opening ever, and the largest live-action opening ever over the Turkey Day weekend (note that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which opened a week before Thanksgiving in 2013 holds the live-action record for the Turkey Day period).
Creed II also looks like it will have legs thanks to an excellent “A” CinemaScore from opening weekend audiences, which skewed male (57%) and a bit older with 64% over 25 (though the highly coveted 25-34 bracket represented 30% of the crowd). The big demographic difference between the original Creed and Creed 11 was an increase in the number of women who accounted for 43% of the Creed II crowd versus just 34% of the original Creed.
Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter prequel, Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald, finished third over the five-day with $42.9 million, which brings its domestic cumulative to $117.1 million. Fantastic Beasts 2 is still underperforming here in North America, but the film is doing much better overseas where it has earned over $322 million.
Illumination Entertainment’s The Grinch earned $42 million over the five-day, coming in just behind Fantastic Beasts 2, but the Dr. Seuss creation actually came in at #3 over the 3-day period as the holiday-themed cartoon dropped only 21.7% in spite of direct competition from Ralph Wrecks The Internet.
Bryan Singer’s Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, dropped a miniscule 13.6% in its fourth weekend as it earned $13.9 million to bring its domestic total to $152 million. While Rhapsody still trails fellow musical A Star Is Born ($191 million) in the domestic market, the Queen biopic is killing it overseas with $320 million, and already has an impressive lead over A Star Is Born in total worldwide earnings ($472.1 million for Rhapsody to $353.4 million for Star).
The blended family comedy Instant Family recovered a bit from its weak opening, dropping just 13.8% as it earned $12.5 million. This pricey comedy ($48 million) still has a long way to go, but word of mouth is definitely helping.
Debuting in seventh place, Lionsgate’s $100 million Robin Hood proved to be a box office bomb as it earned just $9.1 million over the 3-day weekend, and $14.2 million over the 5-day holiday. Fortunately for Lionsgate, the studio pre-sold Robin Hood in many territories across the world, which should mitigate any big potential losses, but audiences clearly indicated that pretty much the last thing anybody needed this November was yet another Robin Hood origin story.
Oscar hopeful The Green Book expanded to over 1,000 venues and earned $5.4 million, while the sexually provocative period film The Favourite opened well in just 4 theaters, earning $420K.
Meanwhile Ruben Fleischer’s Venom has now earned over $822 million worldwide, which is more (in unadjusted figures) than Wonder Woman and Spider-Man. With a budget of around $100 million, Venom will go down as one of the more profitable superhero films of the year. The symbiote saga earned more in China ($242 million) than in North America ($211.7 million).
Be sure to check back here next weekend to see what happens when these films go at it again—the only newcomer is the horror film The Possession of Hannah Grace, which is unlikely to take the top spot.