Thanksgiving didn't turn out to be so jolly for Disney. The legacy studio’s latest animated film, Encanto, turned in a $7.5 million performance at the box office, one of the lowest starts for a Disney film over the holidays.
The relatively disappointing performance of Encanto lowered the box office outlook for the film, which was originally looking for a nearly $40 million domestic box office return. Now, industry forecasts for Encanto are hovering around $26 million over the three-day weekend, and $38 million over five days. If forecast estimates come true, Encanto’s opening weekend box office sales would be lower than Pixar’s 2015 film The Good Dinosaur, which had a $39 million opening weekend and grossed over $55 million in its five-day total, one of Disney/Pixar’s lowest-performing films at the box office.
After Ghostbusters: Afterlife’s $44 million opening weekend, it spurred hope that families were flocking back to the theater after the height of the pandemic. Using Ghostbusters’ positive showing as a point of reference, Disney expected Encanto to be solid at the box office, forecasting between $35 to $40 million in domestic box offices, and another $35 million overseas.
Encanto could still have a chance to rebound from its lackluster Thanksgiving performance. Unlike Christmas, Thanksgiving is normally a down point for movie theaters, and, according to Deadline, Black Friday could still provide a positive bump for the film; however, it’s now unlikely that the film will hit its $35 million forecast once the weekend draws to a close.
Meanwhile, Ridley Scott's House of Gucci premiered to a $4.2 million opening day, while Sony/Screen Gems/Constantin’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City opened at $2.5 million. The industry forecast for all movies is expected to be around $140 million in ticket sales, a 46% decrease from 2019’s total of $258 million, a holiday that saw the release of Disney’s monster hit, Frozen 2.
Encanto is currently playing in theaters.