Thanksgiving Weekend Saw Modest Movie Gains, 'Coco' Animates Revs

Thanksgiving weekend gave movie studios a modest lift -- but U.S. box-office revenue is still forecast to be trending down for the year.

U.S. domestic box office for the top 12 films rose 4% for the weekend versus a year ago to $181 million. Disney/Pixar scored big with the animated “Coco” at $49 million for the holiday weekend.

Warner Bros' “Justice League” slipped 57% in its second weekend -- pulling in $41 million. Barton Crockett, senior media analyst for B.Riley FBR, says this was $15 million below estimates. “Justice League” now totals $171.6 million.                                                 

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Quarter-to-date, U.S. domestic box office revenue through the theater week was down 2.9% over the same period a year ago to $2.9 billion, according to B.Riley FBR.

B.Riley FBR estimates U.S. box office revenues for 2017 will sink 2.8% to $11.1 billion -- down from the $11.4 billion in 2016.

Crockett says there is still hope for some positive gains in the fourth quarter: 

“It's clearer than ever that only one movie has the power to either drive domestic box office up to our sub-par estimate, or to deliver on theater bulls' dreams for a double-digit 4Q17 rise -- 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' out Dec. 15.” Crockett estimate is the Disney film could pull in $551 million in U.S. box-office receipts for 2017.

Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” is currently the biggest movie of the year to date -- at $504 million in the U.S. and $1.3 billion worldwide.

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