"Frozen 2" dominates North American Thanksgiving holiday box office

Disney's new film "Frozen 2" took the top spot at the North American box office with a massive 85.25 million U.S. dollars on Friday-Sunday, the second weekend, and a record-setting 123.7 million dollars over the Thanksgiving holiday Wednesday-Sunday frame.

Director Jennifer Lee poses at the premiere for the film "Frozen II" in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 7, 2019. [Photo: VCG]

It broke the five-day record held by Lionsgate's science fiction film "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," which took in 109 million dollars during the same period in 2013.

The animated fantasy has grossed 287.6 million dollars in North America after just 10 days of release. Internationally, the film brought in 163.8 million dollars in 45 territories for a global second weekend of 249 million dollars and a global cume to date of 738.6 million dollars, according to studio figures collected by measurement firm Comscore.

"Frozen 2" arrived six years after the original "Frozen." The film features the return of the Academy Award-winning team - directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck and the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Evan Rachel Wood, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff. It brings back Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Kristoff, as they venture beyond the kingdom of Arendelle to find out why Elsa was born with magical powers.

The film received generally positive reviews from North American moviegoers and critics, holding an "A-" rating from moviegoers on CinemaScore and 76 percent certified fresh rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes to date.

Lionsgate's mystery film "Knives Out" opened in second place with 27.02 million dollars this weekend for a five-day holiday cume of 41.7 million dollars in North America.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the film stars Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis among others. The plot follows a modern-day murder mystery where everyone is a suspect. When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate.

In the third place, Disney and 20th Century Fox's sports drama film "Ford v Ferrari" earned 13.22 million dollars in its third weekend for the 19 million dollars five-day cume in North America. The film has grossed 81 million dollars in North America for a global total of 143.3 million dollars to date.

Directed by James Mangold and starring Oscar Winners Matt Damon and Christian Bale, "Ford v Ferrari" is based on the true story of the events surrounding the famous rivalry between Ford Motor Company and Ferrari in 1966. The film follows the visionary American car designer Carroll Shelby and the fearless British-born driver Ken Miles, who together battled corporate interference, the laws of physics, and their own personal demons to build a revolutionary race car for Ford Motor Company and take on the dominating race cars of Ferrari racing team at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.

Sony's "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" landed in fourth in its second weekend with 11.8 million dollars for the 17.27 million dollars five-day holiday cume, pushing its North American total to 34.31 million dollars through Sunday. Directed by Marielle Heller and starring Tom Hanks, the film is inspired by the 1998 article "Can You Say ... Hero?" by journalist Tom Junod, published in American magazine Esquire.

Another newcomer, Universal's romantic drama film "Queen and Slim," finished fifth with 11.7 million dollars for the weekend and 15.8 million dollars for the five-days. Directed by Melina Matsoukas in her feature directorial debut, the film follows two young African-Americans who must go on the run after killing a police officer in self-defense in a sudden and tragic conflict.