‘Encanto,’ ‘House of Gucci’ fuel Thanksgiving box office

NEW YORK — Thanksgiving weekend moviegoing was still far from the feast it normally is, but Disney’s “Encanto” and the Lady Gaga-led “House of Gucci” both gave a lift to two genres that have been particularly battered by the pandemic: family movies and adult dramas.

“Encanto” led the box office with $27 million over the weekend and $40.3 million across the five-day holiday frame, according to studio estimates Sunday. While well off the pace of past Disney animated movies released over Thanksgiving — “Coco” launched at the same time of year with $72 million and “Ralph Breaks the Internet” did as well with $84 million — the result was the best opening for an animated movie during the pandemic.

Family films have been especially slow to bounce back, though with kids increasingly getting vaccinated, hopes have been rising that releases such as “Encanto” can lead a rebound. Disney earlier this year released films like Pixar’s “Luca” straight to Disney+, but put out “Encanto,” reportedly made for $120 million, exclusively in theaters. The film, about a magical Colombia family and featuring original songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda, took in $70 million globally.

MGM’s “House of Gucci,” from director Ridley Scott, debuted with $14.2 million over the three-day weekend and $21.8 million across five days. That, too, was among the best performances for an adult drama.

Thanksgiving weekend often accounts for around $250 million in ticket sales domestically. Overall business this weekend came in at about $142 million, according to data firm Comscore — a bit more than half of typical business but also almost seven times better than Thanksgiving 2020, when many theaters were still shuttered.

MGM has bet bigger on the theatrical recovery than most studios; its James

Bond film “No Time to Die,” with $755 million globally, will rank as the No. 1 film of the year. Over the weekend, MGM also released Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” a coming-of-age romance starring Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, on four screens in 70mm for a per-screen average of $83,852 — easily the best of the pandemic. “Licorice Pizza” expands wider in the coming weeks.

Last week’s top film, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” slid to second place with $24.5 million in its second week after a modest 44% drop. The Sony Pictures release has grossed $87.8 million domestically and $28 million internationally.

In its fourth weekend of release Marvel’s “Eternals” added $7.9 million in ticket sales over the three-day weekend to bring its North America cumulative total to $150.6 million and $368 million globally.

Focus Features expanded the Oscar contending “Belfast,” Kenneth Branagh’s

semi-autobiographical tale of his childhood in the Northern Ireland city, to 1,128 locations in its third week. “Belfast” earned $1.3 million over the five-day weekend, bringing its total thus far to $5 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Encanto,” $27 million.

2. “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” $24.5 million.

3. “House of Gucci,” $14.2 million.

4. “Eternals,” $2.5 million.

5. “Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City,” $5.3 million.

6. “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” $4.9 million.

7. “King Richard,” $3.3 million.

8. “Dune,” $2.2 million.

9. “No Time to Die,” $1.8 million.

10. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” $1.6 million.