1. Moana- $28.3M/$119.8M
There weren't any major new wide releases over the Thanksgiving holiday which made it easy for Disney's Moana to hold on to the top spot. The hit animated film dropped 50%, a strong hold compared to similar Disney/Pixar movies. The only question left now is where it goes from here. Disney is faced with the burden of riches as they have 'Rogue One' coming up in a couple of weeks, and that will definitely put a halt to any of Moana's momentum.
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them- $18.5M/$183.5M
3. Arrival- $7.3M/$73M
Some of the best news during this slow weekend is the continued success of Arrival, the excellent sci-fi drama from Denis Villeneuve starring Amy Adams. The film added another $7.3M and increased its theater count by 473, all of which helped boost it to $105M worldwide. With Oscar buzz building we may see this one stick around for a while as one of the season's strongest adult-skewing movies.
4. Allied- $7M/$28.9M
The Brad Pitt/Marion Cotillard WWII drama Allied held up really well after a weak opener. The Robert Zemeckis-directed film earned $7M and fell only 44%. There isn't much awards talk so I don't know how long this will last. Probably not beyond this weekend.
5. Doctor Strange- $6.4M/$215.3M
6. Trolls- $4.6M/$141.3M
7. Hacksaw Ridge- $3.4M/$57.2M
8. Bad Santa 2- $3.2M/$14.2M
A 46% drop for Bad Santa 2 wouldn't be so bad if the opening weekend matched the original 2003 movie's numbers. But it didn't, and $14M after two weeks looks paltry for the R-rated holiday comedy.
9. Incarnate- $2.6M
The WWE Studios co-production Incarnate boasts some decent talent. WWE superstar Mark Henry has a tiny role (hyped endlessly on their multiple TV shows), along with star Aaron Eckhart, Game of Thrones' Carice van Houten, Gotham's David Mazouz, plus San Andreas director Brad Peyton. What it didn't have was much of a marketing campaign, a ton of theaters, and ultimately much of a box office. The supernatural thriller about a dreamwalking exorcist opened with only $2.6M.
10. Almost Christmas- $2.5M/$38.1M
In limited release, Pablo Larrain's Jackie (review) got off to a hot start with $275K in only five locations. You don't need me to break down that average but it's pretty darn good for the film that will likely earn Natalie Portman her latest Best Actress nomination (and victory in my opinion).
