Disney’s “Encanto” debuted to $40.3 million domestically over the five-day opening week (beginning on November 24), making it the third-highest debut from Disney this year behind “Black Widow” ($80,366,312) and “Shang-Chi” ($75,388,688). It’s also much higher than Disney’s other animated theatrical release from this year, “Raya and the Last Dragon,” which scored $8,502,498 in its debut weekend, albeit in the midst of Covid and in only 2,045 theaters compared to the 3,980 “Encanto” played in this weekend. Even while only taking the weekend (Nov. 26-28) into consideration, “Encanto” grossed an estimated $27 million. “Encanto” is off to a great start with $69.6 million worldwide and may have a chance of catching the $130 million total from “Raya and the Last Dragon.”
Also debuting on November 24 was Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci.” It grossed a total of $21,832,755 over the five-day weekend and $14,231,000 over the normal three-day weekend. “House of Gucci” has already topped Scott’s other film to come out this fall, “The Last Duel,” by nearly $6 million in one week. “The Last Duel” grossed a worldwide total of $28,853,736 during its entire run while “House of Gucci” made $34,709,755 in its debut week alone. In all fairness, “The Last Duel” featured a very sensitive topic while “House of Gucci” is far campier and more of a “crowd-pleaser” out of the two.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” made an incredible $336,000 in only four theaters in two markets. Those in NY and LA were the only ones fortunate enough to catch PTA’s latest, and moviegoers went in droves to catch it. An average of $84k per theater is immaculate. Another small release with Oscar hopes is the Japanese film, “Drive My Car.” The three-hour film played in just two theaters, including Lincoln Center, and grossed $20,350 this weekend.
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” took a 44.3% hit in its second weekend but still grossed $24.5 million over the weekend and $35,250,000 in its five-day total. It is now nearing the $100 domestic mark, currently sitting at $87,758,129, but already hit that milestone worldwide. “Eternals” hit $150 million domestically, still trailing “Shang-Chi” and “Black Widow” in terms of domestic totals.
The only wide release coming on December 3 is “Wolf,” but “Benedetta” and “Citizen Ashe” are coming out and have both been talked about on the indie scene over the last couple of months. “Encounter,” a new sci-fi flick starring Riz Ahmed, is also set to release on Prime Video on December 3.
