Moviegoers said goodbye to Katniss Everdeen and welcomed back Rocky Balboa, a series of farewells and reunions that powered Thanksgiving box office receipts above last year’s holiday.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 led a crowded field of contenders, topping charts with $75.8 million and bringing its domestic total to $198.3 million. It marks the final film in the hugely popular series, although Lionsgate, the studio behind the franchise, has hinted it wants to figure out ways to create future spin-offs.
The previous two Hunger Games films have both debuted the week before Thanksgiving and gone on to rule multiplexes over the holiday. Its dominance is practically a holiday tradition.
If Mockingjay – Part 2’s strong returns was a familiar Thanksgiving sight, the big surprise was how well Creed performed. The film successfully brought back Sylvester Stallone’s iconic Rocky character and revived a boxing franchise that seemed like a Reagan-era relic after racking up $42.6 million over the five-day holiday period.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and New Line co-produced and co-financed the film, which centres on Rocky rival Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son (Michael B. Jordan) and his efforts to continue his father’s boxing legacy. Stallone plays his coach and confidant.
It should have no trouble making back the $37 million that the studios spent putting the Italian Stallion back in the ring.
Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur capitalised on school holidays, becoming the de facto choice for families. The animated film earned $56 million over the five-day holiday. That’s a solid result and the fourth highest five-day Thanksgiving opening, but it is somewhat disappointing given Pixar’s track record as the most successful provider of all-ages entertainment. It ranks as the third lowest debut in company history. Pixar did not provide a budget number, but judging from the cost of its previous films, this one likely carries a $200 million price tag.
The Good Dinosaur had a troubled production history. The film’s debut was pushed back by two years and its original director Bob Peterson was pulled from the project over creative disagreements. He was replaced by Peter Sohn and the film underwent a massive overhaul.
The holiday period had some casualties. Fox’s Victor Frankenstein was dead on the slab after earning a torpid $3.4 million from 2,797 theaters over its first five days. The attempt to revive Mary Shelley’s monster story cost $40 million to produce and starred James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. It stands as one of the year’s biggest flops.
In the holdover realm, Spectre took in $18.2 million, driving its domestic earnings to $176.1 million. The film has now grossed more than two of Daniel Craig’s previous James Bond outings Casino Royale ($167.4 million) and Quantum of Solace ($168.4 million), but seems unlikely to match the high-water mark set by Skyfall ($304.4 million).
The Peanuts Movie was not completely overshadowed by The Good Dinosaur. The adaptation of the Charles Schulz comic strip picked up $13.6 million, pushing its total to $116.6 million.
Focus Features premiered The Danish Girl, a drama about a transgender artist who undergoes one of the first sex change operations, in four theatres in New York and Los Angeles. It grossed an estimated $185,000, for a solid per-theatre average of $46,250.