Saturday projections showEncanto,Ghostbusters: Afterlife, andHouse of Gucciholding the three top positions at the domestic box officethey had in the previous weekend. With no major release to grab moviegoers’ attention, the three movies can haul almost the totality of this weekend box office, adding some extra millions to their current run.
Encantois projected to gross $12.3 million in its second weekend, a considerable fall from the $40.3 million it got on the five-day holiday weekend of Thanksgiving. However, even if the numbers are far from impressive, they still ensureEncantowill keep the top spot, showing that families still like to catch Disney movies on theaters above all else.Encanto’s success can also be due to its30-day exclusive theatrical release window, which pushed the movie’s Disney+ release to December 24.
On the heels ofEncantocomesGhostbusters: Afterlife, which is expected to add another $9.5 million in its third weekend. The numbers would takeAfterlife’s domestic total beyond the $100 million mark, an impressive result considering movie theaters are still recovering from the pandemic effects. In addition,Afterlifehas been enjoying a wave of good word-of-mouth, which, combined with the 80’sGhostbusterfranchise success, helps the movie to keep steady even as new contenders arrive at the scene.
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Holding to its third place isHouse of Gucci, with another $7.26 million projected for this weekend’s domestic box office. Directed byRidley Scott, theLady Gaga-led true crime story pulled in $21.8 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. So, should this weekend prediction prove correct, that would mean the domestic box office ofHouse of Gucciwould already equal theinternational results of Scott’s first movie released this year,The Last Duel.
Unfortunately, even with the star power ofAdam Driver,Matt Damon,andBen Affleck,The Last Duelfailed to captivate the audience, bringing less than $30 million worldwide for a movie that has a reported budget of $100 million.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe keeps holding as Hollywood’s most successful franchise, asEternalscomes in fourth place with another $3.85 million added to its domestic box office. While its $150 million domestic box office is way below other MCU releases, the results are still impressive when considering pandemics, especially sinceEternalsis still on the podium five weeks after its release.
Rounding up the top five is Fathom Events’Christmas With the Chosen: The Messengers, a holiday special of the religious streaming seriesThe Chosenthat follows the life of Jesus Christ. While its $1.5 million of predicted box office might seem low, it’s already enough to pushResident Evil: Raccoon Cityout of the podium.
Theaters should gain some momentum next week, with the release ofSteven Spielberg’sWest Side StoryandAdam McKay’s political dark comedyDon’t Look Up. However, numbers should only blow up again on December 17, whenSpider-Man: No Way Homeshatters the MCU’s Multiverse.
