Top Gun: Maverick was once set to open this Thanksgiving weekend, but with the sequel pushed into 2022, earnings weren't anywhere near as good as previous years over the holiday period. Much of this can be blamed on COVID-19, of course, but a new release still managed to take that coveted #1 spot.
That was Disney Animation's Encanto; the studio's 60th movie, it grossed an impressive $40.3 million over the 5-day holiday period, though Ghostbusters: Afterlife was nipping at its heels with $35.3 million during its second week of release (word of mouth on the threequel seems to be helping a lot).
While Encanto's debut was solid, it was also a tad underwhelming compared to previous Disney releases. It earned $12 million less than Pixar's The Good Dinosaur over the same three-day Thanksgiving weekend and $21 million less than Tangled. Latino and Hispanic audiences turned out for this one in a big way, though, with 52% of the audience originating from that background.
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is understandably causing a lot of concern right now, but Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City bombing can't be blamed on that.
With a lowly 24% on Rotten Tomatoes, no one could be surprised that the movie earned just $5.3 million over three days, and $8.8 million over five. If it was meant to be a fresh start for the video game franchise on the big screen, then it's a colossal failure as the chances are any sort of sequel are slim.
What did you guys decide to watch over Thanksgiving?