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Box Office Report: Pixar’s ‘Good Dinosaur’ Uncovers $56M Thanksgiving Debut

Disney and Pixar’s CG-animated feature performs below expectations, bringing in $39.2 million for the three-day weekend, the lowest debut for a Pixar film since the $33.3 million take of ‘A Bug's Life’ in 1998.

The Thanksgiving holiday box office was led by Lionsgate holdover The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2, followed by Pixar’s animated entry The Good Dinosaur and MGM and New Line's Rocky reboot, Creed.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 2 dominated overall in its second outing, earning $75.8 million for the Wednesday-Sunday holiday stretch. The final installment in Lionsgate's YA film franchise continues to pace behind The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 1, which earned $82.7 million over Thanksgiving in 2014, but is still pulling in huge numbers. Mockingjay 2 also dominated overseas, grossing another $62 million for a foreign tally of $242.4 million and global total of $440.7 million through Sunday.

IMAX grosses made up $5.7 million of the overall five-day take for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2. The ten-day IMAX total for the film stands at $15.1 million, which represents 7.6 percent of the film's overall gross.

In second place, Disney and Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur debuted to $56 million from 3,749 locations for the five days, the fourth best Thanksgiving launch of all time. The CG-animated film debuted below expectations, earning $39.2 million for the three-day weekend, the lowest opening weekend performance for a Pixar film since the $33.3 million take of A Bug's Life  back in 1998. Overseas, The Good Dinosaur opened to $28.7 million from 39 markets for a global bow of $84 million. The U.K. led with $4.3 million, followed by Mexico ($3.6 million) and France ($3.2 million).

Costing between $175 million and $200 million to produce, Good Dinosaur marks the first time Pixar has ever released two films in the same year. In June, Inside Out opened to a rousing $90.4 million after earning $3.7 million in Thursday-night previews.

MGM and New Line's Rocky reboot Creed outperformed expectations, opening to $42.6 million from 3,284 theaters for the five days, including a three-day weekend gross of $30.1 million. The $35 million movie -- starring Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone -- is directed by Ryan Coogler and stars Stallone as the aging Rocky Balboa, who agrees to train the son of Apollo Creed, played by Jordan.

Spectre claimed fourth place with an estimated three-day take of $12.80 million. The latest installment of Sony and MGM's James Bond franchise was down 15 percent from last weekend. That represented a very solid holiday hold for the film, especially given the strong start of Creed. Spectre has grossed $176 million in 24 days. That places the film 16 percent ahead of the $151.62 million 24-day take of 2008's Quantum of Solace and 28 percent behind the $245.59 million 24-day gross of 2012's Skyfall. Spectre took in an estimated $18.15 million over the five-day frame.

The Peanuts Movie rounded out the weekend's top five with $9.7 million. The CG-animated adaptation from 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios fell 27 percent from last weekend. That represented a significant decline for a family film over Thanksgiving weekend, especially given the lower than expected start of The Good DinosaurThe Peanuts Movie has grossed $116.8 million in 24 days, which places the film 22 percent behind the $149.3 million 24-day take of 2012's Wreck-It Ralph. The estimated five-day holiday take for The Peanuts Movie stands at $13.6 million.

The holiday's third new entry, Paul McGuigan's Victor Frankenstein, placed number 12 with a five-day gross of $3.4 million from 2,797 theaters, including a three-day take of $2.4 million. The $40 million movie from 20th Century Fox is the latest 2015 title to post one of the worst openings of all time for a major studio release. Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy as Dr. Frankenstein, was supposed to open in October 2014, then in January. It was moved a final time to Thanksgiving. The film is faring better overseas, opening to $10 million from 24 markets, including $2 million in Russia.

Box office numbers were obtained at pro.boxoffice.com.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.