Disney's family film Frozen and Lionsgate's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are making history at the Thanksgiving box office, where they are set to gross as much as $90 million and $100 million, respectively, for the Wednesday-Sunday stretch.
FROZEN Review-
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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire-
In regards to records, Frozen is easily on course to nab the top Thanksgiving opening of all time, eclipsing the $80.1 million five-day debut of Pixar's Toy Story 2 in 1999. It's also destined to score the top opening for a Disney Animation Studios title, besting the $68.7 million debut of Tangled over Thanksgiving in 2010.
Catching Fire, now in its second weekend, will mark the top-grossing Thanksgiving film of any movie, topping previous record-holder Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($82.4 million). It also nabbed the best gross ever for Thanksgiving day -- $14.9 million from 4,163 theaters -- besting the $13.1 million earned by Toy Story 2. Globally, the tentpole has earned north of $423 million.
Frozen, placing No. 2 on Thursday, grossed $11.1 million from 3,742 locations for a two-total of $26.6 million. Family traffic usually dips on Thanksgiving day, then surges on Friday.
Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale The Snow Queen, Frozen -- earning a coveted A+ CinemaScore -- tells the story of a fearless princess (Kristen Bell) who sets off on an epic journey to find her sister, whose icy powers have caused an eternal winter. Last weekend, the 3D pic did big business when it played exclusively at Disney's El Capitan Theater in Hollywood.
After Frozen, the news was mixed for the other new holiday films.
Action-thriller Homefront, starring Jason Statham, grossed roughly $1.4 million from 2,572 theaters on Thursday to place No. 5, bringing its two-day total just shy of $3 million. Distributed by Open Road films, the film may have trouble hitting $10 million by Sunday.
Homefront, receiving a B CinemaScore, features Statham as a widowed ex-DEA agent who moves to a small town with his daughter, only to have the decision blow up in his face. James Franco and Winona Ryder also star.
Fox Searchlight's African-American holiday musical Black Nativity, targeting faith-based consumers and earning an A- CinemaScore, fared better on Thursday, but is still struggling. The pic, coming in at No. 8, grossed $680,000 from 1,516 theaters for a two-day gross of $1.1 million.
Directed by Kasi Lemmons and based loosely on Langston Hughes' play, Black Nativity's ensemble cast is led by Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, Tyrese Gibson, Jennifer Hudson and Mary J. Blige.
The film, about a streetwise teen from Baltimore who travels to New York to spend the holidays with his estranged family, may only eke out a five-day gross in the $3 million range, far less than hoped for. Black Nativity, earning an A- CinemaScore, is likely being hurt by other African-American films still strong in the marketplace, including The Best Man Holiday.
Spike Lee's Oldboy, opening in 583 theaters Wednesday, is bombing in its debut and may not hit $2 million in the five-day stretch. From a script by Mark Protosevich, the remake of the cult South Korean film stars Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley. Oldboy marks the final release from Peter Schlessel's FilmDistrict before Schlessel officially takes over as CEO of Focus Features on Jan. 1.
Elsewhere, both 20th Century Fox's The Book Thief and The Weinstein Co.'s Philomena are making major expansions over the Thanksgiving holiday,
Book Thief, opening in in select cities earlier this month in a bid to build word of mouth, quickly cracked the top 10 Wednesday as it expanded into a total of 1,234 theaters. On Thursday, it took in $825,000 for a domestic total of $3 million and placed No. 7.
The Book Thief, based on the best-selling novel by Markus Zusak about a young girl living with her foster parents in Nazi Germany, stars Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Sophie Nelisse and Ben Schnetzer.
Stephen Frears' critically acclaimed Philomena moved up to No. 11, grossing $433,864 on Thursday from 753 runs for a total $964,267. The awards contender stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.
Online ticket service Fandango reported Friday that it's already enjoying its best month on record in terms of advance ticket sales, thanks to hits including Catching Fire, Thor: The Dark World and Frozen
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Source-THR
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