‘Ralph’ racks it up at the box office
LOS ANGELES — Movie sequels are having their own Thanksgiving feast at the box office.
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Creed II” took the top two spots on the North American charts and beat the openings for the original films, propelling record industry-wide grosses for the Thanksgiving weekend.
Studios yesterday said Disney’s “Wreck-It Ralph” sequel earned an estimated $55.7 million over the threeday weekend and $84.5 million since its Wednesday opening to take first place and become one of the biggest Thanksgiving openings of all time.
Its five-day Thanksgiving grosses are second only to “Frozen” at $94 million, and its three-day haul puts it in third place behind “Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “Frozen.”
The film sees the return of the vocal talents of John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman, and it scored with audiences and critics.
The Rocky spinoff “Creed II,” starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, placed second with $35.3 million from the weekend and $55.8 million since Wednesday. The sequel directed by Steven Caple Jr. has Jordan’s Adonis Creed fighting the son of Ivan Drago.
Third place went to Illumination Entertainment’s “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch,” which earned $30.2 million in its second weekend, and just barely beat out the “Fantastic Beasts” sequel, “Crimes of Grindewald” ($29.7 million) which is also in weekend two.
Overall, it was a remarkable Thanksgiving frame at the box office for the industry. It’s the first time ever that the total domestic box office has surpassed $300 million over the five days counted around the Thanksgiving holiday. Box office tracker comScore is projecting a $314 million total.