Coco Won the Holiday Weekend from Justice League
Photo: Courtesy.
Disney and Pixar’s heartwarming animated musical Coco unsurprisingly sailed past DC and Warner Bros.’ Justice League to win the holiday weekend, making the animation houses Thanksgiving champions for the second year in a row.
Coco opened to $71.2 million at 3,987 North American sites during the Wednesday to Sunday period, as families decided to take a trip to the Mexican Land of the Dead with a boy and his shaggy dog rather than catching up with the metahumans in Metropolis. Coco’s weekend earnings, Variety notes make it the fourth-best Thanksgiving holiday opening, behind three other Disney titles: Frozen with $93 million in 2013, Moana with $82 million in 2016 and Toy Story 3 with $80 million in 2010.
Animated family fare traditionally rules the Thanksgiving holiday—which is probably why Warner Bros. chose to debut their superhero team-up the weekend before the holiday. It should also be noted that Coco’s performance does not seem hampered in the least by the sexual harassment scandal involving Pixar co-founder John Lasseter that broke last week. Lasseter announced a six month leave of absence from the company shortly before media revealed that he has been accused of engaging in a pattern of misconduct.
Justice League, meanwhile, received $60 million at 4,051 locations across the country, about $30 million less than its opening weekend of $96 million—which was itself under the movie’s projected get of around $110 million. Lackluster reviews and a similar audience response have hampered the film, and highly publicized reshoots and a digitally removed mustache didn’t get fans too jazzed about the superhero tentpole either. Plus, it had Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok to contend with, which is still holding strong nearly a month from its original release date.
It’s clear that family films were what the people wanted this weekend, as Wonder, which stars Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson as the parents of a child (Jacob Tremblay) with facial differences who enters mainstream education for the first time, got $22.3 million in its second weekend. That cast, plus the fact that it’s based on a bestselling book and has a script by author-turned-screenwriter Stephen Chbosky, made the movie a sure win for families looking for something feel-good that didn’t involve C.G.I. skeletons.
Meanwhile, Thor: Ragnarok continued holding steady at fourth place in its fourth weekend, adding $24 million to its domestic gross of $277 million and passing $700 million worldwide. It’s now the seventh-biggest (out of 17) Marvel Cinematic Universe release, having surpassed Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend. Not bad for a movie that co-stars Cate Blanchett in antlers alongside a sentient pile of rocks.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
More from Vanity Fair:
13 Photos That Prove William and Kate Are a Perfect Couple
The Game of Thrones Cast Then and Now
The 20 Most Satisfying TV Kisses of All Time
Film's Sexiest Little Black Dresses
