‘Frozen 2’ sets Thanksgiving box office record

Disney sequel has $85.3M weekend, takes in $132.7M Wednesday through Sunday

LOS ANGELES — “Frozen 2,” in its second week, set a Thanksgiving record with a whopping box office bounty, while newcomer “Knives Out” found its own broad audience.

Disney’s new adventures for Anna, Elsa and Olaf brought in $85.3 million in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend with an unprecedented $132.7 million from Wednesday through Sunday.

That came on top of a record-burying opening weekend of $127 million debut domestically and $350.2 million worldwide that made it the highestgrossing global debut for any animated film globally, and the largest opening for any Walt Disney Animation Studios release.

The original film and its world-making song “Let It Go” became a pop-culture phenomenon, earning $1.27 billion worldwide and selling countless Elsa and Anna dresses.

The sequel has already earned $739 million globally and should surpass the original’s totals.

“Knives Out,” the innovative whodunit from writer and director Rian Johnson, rode great reviews and strong social media buzz to a $27 million weekend and a five-day domestic total of $41.7 million that easily earned back its budget.

The film’s vast and eclectic cast included Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette and Chris Evans.

The weekend’s other newcomer, “Queen & Slim,” finished down in fifth with $11.7 million, but with a limited number of screens and a modest reported budget of about $20 million, a successful opening for the Bonnie-and-Clyde-meets-Black-Lives-Matter story.

“Ford v Ferrari” rolled along in its third weekend of release, finishing in third place with $13.2 million.

Tom Hanks’ Mister Rogers story “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” earned $11.8 million to put it fourth at the domestic box office.