Disney’s colorful Coco lives large
Ah, Thanksgiving traditions — turkey, football and a big Disney box-office debut.
Walt Disney Co. had the holiday weekend’s biggest new film for the third year in a row, this time with the critically acclaimed Coco.
The Pixar animated movie, which centers on Mexico’s Day of the Dead holiday, placed first in U.S. and Canadian theaters, garnering about $51 million from Friday to Sunday, ComScore Inc. said. Including Wednesday and Thursday, the movie took in about $73 million.
The well-reviewed film adds to a long run of familyfriendly Disney fare to entice audiences out of their turkey comas, from 1999’s Toy Story 2 to 2013’s Frozen. Last year, Moana topped the charts. The Good Dinosaur was the weekend’s biggest debut in 2015, though it placed second to the already-released The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2.
This year, the competition wasn’t as tough for Disney. Warner Bros.’ critically panned superhero offering Justice League placed second with $41 million over three days, falling 57 percent from its debut last week. It was forecast to earn $42.2 million, according to Box Office Mojo. Lionsgate’s drama Wonder returned in third place with $22.3 million, beating a threeday forecast of $21.5 million.
The win by Coco offered Disney some solace after a troubling week. John Lasseter, an executive producer on the film and the chief creative officer for Disney Animation and Pixar, said on Nov. 21 he would take a leave of absence after the Hollywood Reporter and other outlets cited coworkers who accused him of unwanted touching and hugs.
Disney’s biggest Thanksgiving debut ever was Frozen, which earned $67.4 million from Friday to Sunday and $93.6 million for the full five days in 2013, according to ComScore. That year was the biggest Thanksgiving weekend ever for Hollywood, with Hunger Games: Catching Fire also helping generate $294.2 million over five days.
Call Me by Your Name, Luca Guadagnino’s swooning, sensual love story, grossed about $413,000 from four theaters in Los Angeles and New York, earning the year’s best opening theater average at $103,00 per screen. (Lady Bird had taken in $91,000 per theater last month.)
The movie, set in northern Italy, centers on an evolving affair between a precocious 17-year-old (Timothee Chalamet) and a handsome, mysterious American (Armie Hammer) staying the summer at his family’s villa. Critics have fallen for the drama, making it the year’s top-rated film on review aggregator Metacritic.
Darkest Hour, a historical drama covering the beginning of Winston Churchill’s days of prime minister during World War II, also opened well, grossing $176,000 in a limited release in New York and Los Angeles. The movie serves as something of a companion piece to Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, covering roughly the same period of time. Gary Oldman’s turn as Churchill has been regarded as an early front-runner for the lead actor Oscar.