'Coco' Conquers 'Justice League'
by EG
After a dismal opening last week, Justice League is facing a disappointing long holiday weekend, too. The big-budget superhero film looks like it will take second place to Coco, an animated family film about the Mexican Day of the Dead. Coco will likely take in $70 million or more by the end of the weekend, while Justice League will be lucky to earn $60 million.
As the long Thanksgiving holiday got underway, Disney and Pixar's Coco danced its way past holdover Justice League on Wednesday with an opening-day gross of $13.2 million after nabbing an A+ CinemaScore.
Wednesday's haul included $2.3 million in Tuesday night previews. Coco is playing in 3,987 theaters in North America.
Justice League took in $10.5 million from 4,051 theaters for a domestic total of $122.4 million.
At this pace, Coco, about the popular Mexican holiday Day of the Dead, should have no trouble winning the turkey trot with a five-day debut north of $70 million.
Between them, Disney Animation Studios and Pixar claim the top six five-day Thanksgiving openings of all time, not accounting for inflation. Frozen (2013) is the record holder with $93.6 million, while last year's Moana sang its way to $82.1 million. Tangled took in $68.7 million in 2010, and The Good Dinosaur, $55.5 million in 2015. When adjusting for inflation, the 1999 Toy Story 2 supplants Frozen with nearly $141 million (unadjusted, Toy Story's five-day debut was $80.1 million).
Directed by Lee Unkrich and co-directed by Adrian Molina, Coco tells the story of 12-year-old Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), who sets out to become an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt). The trouble is, his family has banned music for generations. Miguel suddenly finds himself in the magical Land of the Dead, where he teams up with the trickster Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) in hopes of unlocking the secret behind his family history. The Frozen featurette Olaf's Frozen Adventure accompanies the film.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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