The Thanksgiving holiday box office is on the way to a possible record-setting revenue.
The impressive earnings were led by a pair of sequels, Disney Animation Studios’ Ralph Breaks the Internet and MGM’s Creed II. Early weekend estimates project that will set a new box office Thanksgiving revenue record will be set as the two films are some of the most successful Thanksgiving turns of all time.
Ticket sales for the five-day period are expected to ring up $305 million or more, topping the all-all-time record of $295 million currently held by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Frozen in 2013.
Ralph Breaks the Internet performed well above the expectations. While it was projected to earn between $67 million and $77 million, it opened to a whopping $84 million-plus and is likely to earn the title of the second-best Thanksgiving opening behind Disney’s “Frozen” at $93.6 million. The first film, Wreck-it Ralph opened with $49 million over three days.
Creed II opened with $60 million, more than the first installment’s debut weekend at $42 million during Thanksgiving 2015.
“A spectacularly crowded turkey day frame is off to an amazing start with an appetizing bounty of crowd-pleasing blockbusters and awards season contenders that have enthusiastic crowds flocking to the multiplex, with a new record (and the potential for the first $300 million plus total) for the five-day holiday period in the works in the wake of the biggest pre-Thanksgiving Wednesday that crossed $50 million for the first time,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore.
