Disney/Pixar's "A Bug's Life" dominated the box office this weekend with a staggering number one debut of an estimated $33.3M over the Friday-to-Sunday period and a record-setting $45.7M over the five-day holiday frame. If the estimates hold, the computer-generated bug picture will become the largest Thanksgiving opening in history topping Disney's 1996 release "101 Dalmatians" which debuted with $33.5M and $45.1M over the comparable periods. In addition, "A Bug's Life" is the second-best debut for an animated film ever, coming in behind Disney's "The Lion King" which made $40.9M when it opened in 1994. Another family animated film, Paramount's "The Rugrats Movie," held up during its second week of release and landed in second place with an estimated $21M three-day weekend cume and $27.4M over the five-day holiday. The feature adaptation of Nickelodeon's popular children's program has now amassed $57.9M in only ten days of release ensuring the sequel which was already in development prior to the first film's release. With an estimated production cost of only $25M, combined with the expected revenues from merchandising, worldwide home video and overseas theatrical, Paramount has uncovered an extremely profitable franchise. Less notably, Dreamworks' "ANTZ" dropped out of the top ten for the first time in two months placing 17th with $1.2 million for a grand total of $85.7M.Disney/Pixar's "A Bug's Life" dominated the box office this weekend with a staggering number one debut of an estimated $33.3M over the Friday-to-Sunday period and a record-setting $45.7M over the five-day holiday frame. If the estimates hold, the computer-generated bug picture will become the largest Thanksgiving opening in history topping Disney's 1996 release "101 Dalmatians" which debuted with $33.5M and $45.1M over the comparable periods. In addition, "A Bug's Life" is the second-best debut for an animated film ever, coming in behind Disney's "The Lion King" which made $40.9M when it opened in 1994. Another family animated film, Paramount's "The Rugrats Movie," held up during its second week of release and landed in second place with an estimated $21M three-day weekend cume and $27.4M over the five-day holiday. The feature adaptation of Nickelodeon's popular children's program has now amassed $57.9M in only ten days of release ensuring the sequel which was already in development prior to the first film's release. With an estimated production cost of only $25M, combined with the expected revenues from merchandising, worldwide home video and overseas theatrical, Paramount has uncovered an extremely profitable franchise. Less notably, Dreamworks' "ANTZ" dropped out of the top ten for the first time in two months placing 17th with $1.2 million for a grand total of $85.7M.
