In its fifth day of release, Disney’s Frozen 2 scored the best Tuesday ever in November with an estimated $21.1M. This is after landing November’s best Monday with $12.77M reported by Disney yesterday. On both days, Anna and Elsa beat Lionsgate’s Hunger Games: Catching Fire which held previous November highs for Monday ($12.3M) and Tuesday ($15.96M).
Among all animated movies, Frozen 2 looks like it’s the third best Tuesday behind Incredibles 2 ($27M) and Finding Dory ($23.1M). If Disney reports a lower figure than $20.57M, which is what Toy Story 4 made on its Tuesday, then Frozen 2 is the fourth best Tuesday for a feature toon. Running tally for Frozen 2 is at $164.1M. By the end of Thanksgiving rival distrib sources believe the Jennifer Lee-Chris Buck sequel will stand at $200M, with K-12 schools out today at 80%, colleges at 63% and everyone out on Thursday and Friday. Current second weekend forecast for Frozen 2 stands at $84M.
Lionsgate’s previews last night for Rian Johnson’s Media Rights Capital movie Knives Out grossed $1.66M off shows that started at 7PM, raising its total preview cash including weekend sneak money to $3.7M. Pic opens in 3,391 theaters today and expands to 3,461 by Friday. Pic has a 96% certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Lionsgate will add the $3.7M previews and sneaks into today’s opening total. In early Screen Engine/Comscore PostTrak exits last night, Knives Out received 4 stars with a 66% definite recommend. Leading demos were men over 25 (41%), females over 25 (36%), men under 25 (12%), and females under 25 (11%). Diversity demos were 61% Caucasian, Hispanic 12%, African Americans and Asians at 11%. Note these exits will fluctuate throughout the five day stretch. Knives Out cost $40M before digital print and ad spend, with Lionsgate and MRC sharing a 50/50 exposure.
20th Century Fox/Disney’s Ford v Ferrari among regular pics in release made $2.5M yesterday, +63% over Monday for a running total in week 2 of $62M. Sony/TriStar’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood made $2.3M yesterday, +55% from Monday for a five-day of $17M. STX’s 21 Bridges did $1.4M, +60% for a five-day of $11.5M. Paramount/Walden Media’s Playing With Fire was 5th with an estimated $1M, +66% for a running total in week 3 of $33.1M. The John Cena comedy is pacing 11% behind the Melrose Lot’s Instant Family from last November in its first 12 days, that Mark Wahlberg-Rose Byrne movie finaling at $67.3M.