Weekend Report: 'Catching Fire,' 'Frozen' Set Thanksgiving Records
It was feast or famine at the box office over the long Thanksgiving weekend. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen obliterated a handful of records, and combined for over $200 million for the five-day frame. The rest of the market didn't fare so well, though: in particular, new releases Homefront, Black Nativity and Oldboy failed to find an audience.
After opening to over $158 million last weekend, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire held well over the Thanksgiving holiday. For the three-day weekend, the movie took first place with $74.2 million; among all second weekends, that ranks fourth behind The Avengers, Avatar and The Dark Knight.
With $109.9 million from Wednesday to Sunday, the blockbuster sequel also destroyed the five-day Thanksgiving weekend record held for the past 12 years by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($82.4 million).
Through its first 10 days, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has earned a massive $296.3 million. It's now virtually guaranteed to finish with over $400 million, and should also ultimately top the original movie's $408 million total.
Playing at 3,742 locations, Frozen opened to a massive $67.4 million over the three-day weekend. That's the second-highest weekend ever for a movie opening out of first place. For the five-day frame, Frozen took in $93.6 million, which is a new record for a Thanksgiving opening ahead of Toy Story 2 ($80.1 million). It's also way above similar movie Tangled, which took in $68.7 million over the same five-day period in 2010.
Frozen's surprisingly high debut can likely be attributed to strong branding on the part of Disney's marketing. Early and often, the connection was made between Frozen and Disney Animation's Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph, both of which were successful and well-liked. Leading up to release, the marketing also highlighted a critic quote that suggested the movie was Disney's best since The Lion King; that may be hyperbole, but it was also very effective. It didn't hurt that Frozen's marketing played up the humor—specifically, from snowman Olaf—which is a similar trait across nearly all successful animated movies.
Frozen's audience skewed female (57 percent)—not surprising, considering it's a princess story—and was made up predominantly of families (81 percent). It received a rare "A+" CinemaScore, which suggests word-of-mouth will be very strong. While there is some competition late in December, Frozen will be the exclusive choice for family audiences for the next three weeks; as a result, a final total north of $250 million seems within reach.
Source:
Box Office Mojo