Disney’s Moana is leading the box office charge on two fronts this weekend. The animated feature tops the domestic chart for the second week in a row, pulling in an estimated $28.4 million in North America and a further $32 million overseas, helping the Mouse again push past an industry record.
Through Sunday, Disney has made an estimated $2.49 billion, topping the previous annual record posted by Universal ($2.45 billion) in 2015. The studio’s international total – bolstered by ongoing grosses from Moana ($177.4 million worldwide to date) and Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange (No. 5 in the nation this week, $634.9 million worldwide to date) – now sits at $4.08 billion, marking the first time Disney has crossed the $4 billion global mark in its history.
Still on deck for Disney is the impending juggernaut Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which hits theaters Dec. 16.
Coming in at No. 2 is the Warner Bros. Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which registers $18.5 million after falling a steep 58.9 percent in the first three-day period following the Thanksgiving holiday stretch. The J.K. Rowling-penned film, directed by David Yates, who helmed several of the original Potter films, has earned $183.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, making it the highest-grossing title (unadjusted for inflation) in the filmographies of stars Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, and Colin Farrell. And though Johnny Depp appears in only a small role in the film, Fantastic Beasts is also the highest-earning film the actor’s appeared in since 2011, when Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides made $241.1 million.
Paramount’s prospective Best Picture contender Arrival jumps two spots to No. 3 on the U.S. chart, bringing in an estimated $7.3 million for a total of $73.1 million in the country. Unadjusted for inflation, the film is now director Denis Villeneuve’s top earner in the region. Arrival bounds past Robert Zemeckis’ Allied, the Brad Pitt/Marion Cotillard historical thriller, which tallies a little over $7 million across its sophomore weekend, bringing its total to $28.9 million since its Nov. 23 premiere.
BH Tilt’s horror flick Incarnate, targeted exclusively to fans of the genre in a burgeoning initiative by the Blumhouse division, finishes its first weekend at No. 9, making roughly $2.7 million across its first three days in theaters that were hand-selected by the distributor for being frequented by horror aficionados.
Like BH Tilt’s previous release, May’s The Darkness, the film was not well received by its target audience, earning a poor C- grade on CinemaScore from polled moviegoers. The Darkness did, however, fall in-line with expectations, earning a healthy $10.8 millon on a modest budget as part of Tilt’s alternative releasing model.
Outside the top 10, Fox’s Jacqueline Kennedy drama Jackie debuts to a stellar estimated $275,000 from five locations, averaging $55,000 per theater – one of the best of the year so far. The Natalie Portman-starring historical film has been heavily praised by movie critics following its run along the fall festival circuit, where director Pablo Larraín won the TIFF Platform Prize and Noah Oppenheim’s script won the Best Screenplay award at the Venice Film Festival. The film’s composer, Mica Levi, also earned recognition from the LAFCA on Sunday, receiving recognition as the critics circle’s runner-up in the Best Music Score category.
Awards hopefuls Manchester by the Sea and Moonlight continue their audience-verified bids for Oscar glory this weekend as well, earning an additional $2.4 million and $915,750, respectively. Manchester’s domestic haul now stands at $4.4 million, while Moonlight sits just under $10 million.
Two Isabelle Huppert dramas are also performing well at the North American box office: Elle, which is likely to earn the French actress her first Academy Award nomination, makes an additional $93,795 in its fourth weekend, bringing its total to $584,604, while Things to Come premieres in three theaters to the tune of $33,090.
Overall box office numbers are up 4 percent from the same period last year. Check out the Dec. 2-4 box office estimates below.
1. Moana - $28.4 million
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - $18.5 million
3. Arrival - $7.3 million
4. Allied - $7 million
5. Doctor Strange - $6.5 million
6. Trolls - $4.6 million
7. Hacksaw Ridge - $3.4 million
8. Bad Santa 2 - $3.3 million
9. Incarnate - $2.7 million
10. Almost Christmas - $2.5 million
