Frozen 2 makes competition shiver at the box office with record-breaking $124 million
Disney’s Frozen 2 has taken the lead spot at the box office for the second weekend in a row, with no other title coming close to icing them out.
The animated sequel to the 2013 original Frozen earned an estimated $124 million across the five-day weekend, according to Comscore. Not only does that earn them the winning spot for the holiday weekend, it also broke the record for the biggest Thanksgiving weekend gross of all time.
Newcomer Knives Out didn’t reach Frozen 2 level dollars, but the film took second place with $42 million during their first weekend in theaters. Returning titles Ford v Ferrari ($19 million) and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood ($17.3 million) take the third and fourth spots.
Rounding out the top five is new entry Queen & Slim who earned an estimated $15.8 million during its debut weekend.
Knives Out was very well received by critics and boasts an all-star cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Christopher Plummer, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, Lakeith Stanfield, and Katherine Langford. The murder mystery follows the investigation into the death of a crime novelist shortly after his 85th birthday.
EW gives the movie a respectable B+ calling it, “a silly, stabby, supremely clever whodunnit that only really suffers from having too little room for each of its talented players to fully register in the film’s limited run time.”
Moviegoers enjoyed the Rian Johnson-directed film much more, it earned an A- on Cinemascore. Rotten Tomato critics are more in line with fans, the title is currently rated 96% fresh.
Queen & Slim tells the story of an Ohio couple (played by Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith) on their first date, who are pulled over by a white police officer for a minor traffic infraction and soon find themselves at the center of a nationwide manhunt. The duo become unwilling outlaws after Kaluuya’s Ernest “Slim” Hines shoots the officer in self-defense.
The romantic drama heralds Turner-Smith’s feature film debut in a lead role and Melina Matsoukas’ feature film directorial debut.
EW gave the Lena Waithe-penned feature a B calling it, “a lush lovers-on-the-run odyssey.” Adding, “And yet this haphazard film is a ride, a romantic provocation torn between cultural strife and individual striving.”
Cinemascore gave the film an A- and it’s certified 84% fresh by critics on Rotten Tomatoes.
Overall, box office is down -5.7% percent year-to-date, according to Comscore. Check out the Nov. 27-Dec. 1 numbers below:
Frozen 2— $124 million
Knives Out—$42 million
Ford v Ferrari—$19 million
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood—$17.3 million
Queen & Slim—$15.8 million
21 Bridges— $8 million
Playing With Fire — $6 million
Midway — $5.8 million
Joker — $3 million
Last Christmas — $2.9 million