‘Frozen 2’ nabs highest-grossing weekend in Thanksgiving history
Another week, another box office record broken by Disney.
“Frozen 2,” the studio’s sequel to the 2013 animated phenomenon, set the record for the highest-grossing weekend in Thanksgiving history. It made $123.7 million domestically over the five day holiday weekend, breaking the record held by “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” which made $109 million in 2013.
The film, which continues the adventures of Princess Anna, Queen Elsa and Olaf the snowman, has made $738.6 million globally in just 12 days.
The animated movie broke records when it opened last weekend, pulling in $130 million domestically. That was the highest-grossing debut for Walt Disney Animation Studios. The sequel also set the record for the biggest global opening for an animated film ever, making $358 million worldwide.
“Frozen 2” is another major success during a year of many box office hits for Disney. The company has already set the record for highest-grossing year for a studio ever, a milestone it achieved in July. The studio also has five films that have made more than $1 billion. That includes “Avengers: Endgame,” the biggest blockbuster in box office history, “The Lion King” and “Toy Story 4.”
“Frozen 2” is well on its way to becoming the sixth film to join the $1 billion club for Disney, and the studio could nab a seventh film to gross more than $1 billion next month when it releases “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” — the final chapter of the Skywalker saga.
Hollywood offered audiences many films to feast on other than “Frozen 2” this weekend.
Lionsgate’s “Knives Out, a whodunit murder mystery starring Daniel Craig and Chris Evans, brought in a $41.7 million five day domestic opening. This weekend’s other newcomer, Universal’s “Queen & Slim,” a romantic drama starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith, made $15.8 million domestically over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The North American box office was down roughly 7% coming into the holiday. The strong showing from this weekend’s lineup helped the box office, which is now down 5.6% from the same point last year, according to Comscore.
