‘Frozen 2’ freezes competition for third weekend in a row

By Sonaiya Kelley 

LOS ANGELES — The post-Thanksgiving weekend is usually a box-office dead zone, which is why studios don’t often roll out major wide releases in this corridor. Even among holdovers, it’s common for movies to drop more than 40 per cent from the previous weekend, and Disney’s mega-hit “Frozen 2” was not immune, dropping 60 per cent.

Still, the animated film continued its winning streak into a third consecutive weekend, adding $34.7 million for a cumulative total of $337.6 million, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore. Globally, the film has earned $919.7 million and is poised to become Disney’s sixth film to cross the $1 billion milestone this year.

The only major new release of the weekend, STX Entertainment’s animated musical “Playmobil: The Movie”, opened outside the top 10 with $668,000.

The $75 million film, based on a German toy brand, features the voices of Daniel Radcliffe, Kenan Thompson, Meghan Trainor, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jim Gaffigan and Adam Lambert. STX serves solely as a distributor on the film, picking it up after original distributor Global Road went bankrupt.

The result is the fourth-worst opening ever for a movie playing in more than 2,000 theatres, dangerously close to current record holder “The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure”, which opened with $443,000 on its way to $1 million in 2012.

Directed by Lino DiSalvo from a script by Blaise Hemingway, Greg Erb and Jason Oremland, “Playmobil: The Movie” had a mixed reception, with a B-plus CinemaScore and a 19 per cent “rotten” rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.

In second place, Lionsgate’s “Knives Out” added $14.1 million in its second weekend (a 47 per cent drop) for a cumulative $63.5 million. The film has earned $124 million in global ticket sales.

At No. 3, Fox’s “Ford v Ferrari” added $6.5 million in its fourth weekend for a cumulative $91.1 million. The film has earned $167.6 million in worldwide receipts.

In fourth, Universal’s “Queen & Slim” added $6.5 million in its second weekend (a 45 per cent drop) for a cumulative $26.9 million.

Rounding out the top five, Sony’s “A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood” added $5.2 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $43.1 million.

At No. 6, Focus Features moderately expanded “Dark Waters”, adding 1,918 screens and $4.1 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $5.3 million.

In seventh, STX Entertainment’s “21 Bridges” added $2.8 million in its third weekend for a cumulative $23.9 million.

At No. 8, Paramount’s “Playing With Fire” earned $2 million in its fifth weekend for a cumulative $42 million.

In ninth place, Lionsgate’s “Midway” added $1.9 million in its fifth weekend for a cumulative $53.4 million.

Rounding out the top 10, “Joker”, from Warner Bros., added $1 million in its 10th weekend for a cumulative $332.1 million.

In limited release, Neon’s French drama “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” opened in two locations to $67,105, an impressive per-screen average of $33,552.

Directed by Céline Sciamma, the film stars Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel as two women who fall in love after one is hired to secretly paint the wedding portrait of the other. It earned a 97 per cent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The critically acclaimed film is only in theatres for one week for an awards-qualifying run. It will return to theatres in February.

Amazon opened the biographical drama “The Aeronauts” two weeks before its streaming launch but did not report box office figures.

The film, which tells the story of a pilot and scientist fighting to survive in an experimental air balloon, reunites “The Theory of Everything” stars Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne. It earned a 72 per cent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

1091 Media opened the documentary “Midnight Family” in one location to $3,500. It earned a rare 100 per cent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

This week, Sony opens the action adventure “Jumanji: The Next Level”, Universal reveals horror remake “Black Christmas”, and Warner Bros. opens the critically acclaimed “Richard Jewell”.

In limited release, Lionsgate debuts “Bombshell”, A24 premieres the Adam Sandler crime drama “Uncut Gems”, Fox Searchlight opens Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life”, and Amazon releases the biographical drama “Seberg”.