“Frozen II” Brings Heat to Chilly Holiday Box Office

By: Keaton Marcus

Diving into the weekend, animated sequel Frozen II took charge, bringing much-needed heat to a chilly holiday box office, coming in at expectations, and delivering excellently overseas. Otherwise, Ford v Ferrari had a solid sophomore session, but dipped a little more than expected, while A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood beat out cop-thriller 21 Bridges, but with a soft performance.

As mentioned trampling competition was Disney’s extremely-anticipated sequel Frozen II, which sold an estimated 127M in stateside ticket sales. Playing in approximately 4,440 sites nationwide, the gargantuan hit averaged $28,604 per-screen. With its numbers, the children’s movie has claimed the role as the third biggest animated debut of all-time, and the fifth biggest debut in November of all-time. Comps could include the likes of both Toy Story 4 which opened to 120.9M in the Summer, and Finding Dory, which in 2016, debuted to 135M. The two pics above finished with a healthy average multiplier of 3.6x, which would mean an impressive finish of 457M, which seems suitable.

Overseas, Frozen II’s performance just got better. Hauling in an estimated 223.2M from many major markets, the sequel has achieved a massive 350.2M global debut. The movie’s biggest market is China, which debuted to 53M, followed by Korea (31.5M), Japan (18.2M), the UK (17.8M), Germany (14.9M), France (13.4M), Mexico (9.3M), Indonesia (6.2M), the Philippines (6.1M) and Spain (5.8M). Next weekend, we see releases in Italy, Russia, Australia, Greece, New Zealand, Trinidad, Chile and Venezuela. With a list like this, we are expecting a finish easily topping the one billion mark.

Review wise, things were generally positive, while generating nearly-perfect feedback from audiences. Sweet and Sour’s review gave it a solid 70/100 “sweet/sour”, noting the lack of pure awe compared to its predecessor, but praising the beautiful animation, and the charming voice cast. RottenTomatoes scores it at a 76% “Certified Fresh” based on 224 reviews, with a consensus reading: “Frozen II can’t quite recapture the showstopping feel of its predecessor, but it remains a dazzling adventure into the unknown.” Audiences gave it an excellent 93% approval on RT, along with an A- CinemaScore.

In runner-up we see last weekend’s easy champion Ford v Ferrari which delivered a sophomore session of 16M, sliding a more-than-expected 49%, but its still another impressive showing. After now 10 days of release, the biopic has raced to 57.9M domestically, and it is on track to a lesser, but solid 95-100M finish. Overseas, the international haul stands at a still-quiet 45.8M for a worldwide bout of 103.7M. With the 100M budget, its still around 145M from breaking even.

Thirdly, the second newcomer was Sony’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood which opened to an estimated 13.5M from 3,235 locations in North America. While this is far from the 17-20M forecast, it will likely have long-enough legs to get through to its paltry 25M production cost. What will help with its performance is the nearly perfect reception from both critics and audiences, and it’s lack of direct competition.

Even worse was the third, and final newcomer, STX Entertainment’s R-rated action thriller 21 Bridges, which shot to a mere 9.3M from 2,665 theaters. While the debut itself is not fatal, it surely is disappointing, and is lower than the then-conservative 10-15M expectations. The film drew largely mixed response from critics, but good reception from audiences.

Rounding out the top five was Lionsgate’s Midway which garnered a third weekend of 4.7M, resulting in domestic earnings now topping 43.1M. The film will likely inch to the 50M mark in the states, while its overseas gross now stands at 55.8M with a worldwide total of 98.9M.

Next weekend, we see two nationwide newcomers coming to play. Firstly, murder-mystery Knives Out will hope to match its excellent reviews and 25M expectations, while more moderate release Queen & Slim will attempt to garner around 11M.

TOP FIVE:

Frozen II
Ford v Ferrari
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
21 Bridges
Midway