Box Office: ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet,’ ‘Creed II’ Pack a Major Punch Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Matt Marshall November 25, 2018

‘Ralph Break the Internet’ and ‘Creed II’ Both Pick Up Big Franchise Wins

Sequels took control of the Thanksgiving box office as Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet and Creed II led the charts this weekend. The Disney sequel debuted with an estimated $55.7 million over the three-day weekend and a $84.5 million total since Wednesday.

With the exception of The Good Dinosaur in 2015, Disney, Thanksgiving and success are synonymous with one another. Ralph Breaks the Internet pulled in the fourth-best Thanksgiving opener. Trailing Frozen ($67.4 million), Toy Story 2 ($57.4 million) and Moana ($56.6 million), Ralph Breaks the Internet was another win for Disney. It’s currently in a better position than its 2012 predecessor, which opened at the beginning of November and squared off against Rise of the Guardians come Thanksgiving. With two more weeks all to itself, Ralph Breaks the Internet will be the go-to family film until Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. $200 million should highly obtainable with sights set closer to $250 million. Critics and audiences have been generally pleased. Ralph Breaks the Internet scored an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes as well as an “A-” CinemaScore. The title of biggest animated film of the holidays remains up in the air right now.

Like its 2015 predecessor, Creed II packed an even greater punch over the extended Thanksgiving weekend. Starring Black Panther’s Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone, MGM’s boxing sequel racked up $35.3 million over the standard three-day weekend and $55.8 million since Wednesday’s opening. Both numbers are up from the 2015 film, which opened to $29.6 and $42.1 million over the same frames. Critical reception remains high on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring an 82%. Creed II won out with the best rated CinemaScore amongst new releases. Its “A” grade matched the previous film. If Creed II can play like Creed did in 2015, a $125-130 million run will be in order. That would flirt with franchise-high, Rocky IV ($127.9 million). Of course, inflation is not taken in for account.

Even with the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Illumination’s latest take on The Grinch proved to be a formidable alternative. The animated holiday flick only took a mere 21.7% drop, grossing another $30.2 million over the weekend. After 17 days in theaters, The Grinch has now passed $180 million. The holiday bump helped score the studio’s best third weekend as well as best third weekend drop. Even mega-hits like Despicable Me 2 ($24.9 million), Sing ($20.7 million) and The Secret Life of Pets ($29.6 million) performed lower in a third frame. At this juncture, we can probably raise the $210-220 million final estimate up to $240 million. We’ll see how The Grinch can contend with Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in three weeks time.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald lasted five days on top of the box office. Though, it didn’t help that all new releases came out on a Wednesday this weekend. In its sophomore frame, Warner Bros.’ Fantastic Beasts sequel fell 52.3% from its franchise-low $62.2 million opening. Bringing in another $29.7 million, Fantastic Beasts has reached a 10-day total of $117.1 million. The previous 2016 film dipped 39.4%. Except for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (-60.7%), Fantastic Beasts had the second-worst November holdover for a Potter film. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (-36.3%), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (-52.2%), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (-46.7%) performed much better with acceptable legs ahead. For the first time in franchise history, the $200 million milestone is out of reach.

With the exception of an expanding Green Book (+1598.7%), Fox’s Bohemian Rhapsody held better than any other film in the top 10. The Freddie Mercury biopic dipped a 13.6% in its third weekend, grossing another $13.9 million over the weekend. Even dropping two spots to fifth and battling newcomers Ralph Breaks the Internet and Creed II, demand for Bohemian Rhapsody continues to remain strong. In fact, its incredible hold denied Lionsgate’s Robin Hood a top 5 debut. With little competition until December 14th, Bohemian Rhapsody could hang on in the top 5, totaling up to six straight weekends. Now over $150 million, Bohemian Rhapsody still has a chance to rock out north of $175 million, guaranteeing at least a 3.42x multiplier. Though catching up to A Star is Born’s near-$200 million run may be a performance too ambitious to undertake.