Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows won the Thanksgiving box office competition after a close race with Tangled. Hopefuls like Burlesque, Love and Other Drugs and Faster had designs on the top box office spot this weekend, but didn’t hold a candle to the magic of Harry Potter or Disney animation.
It looked like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 might get Tangledout of first place like the rest of the competition, with some early reports even calling the weekend for Tangled, but Harry Pottereked out the win this weekend.
The penultimate installment of the Potter franchise banked $50.3 million over the standard weekend, for a Thanksgiving weekend pull of $76 million. That brings Harry Potter 7’s total 10-day take to an impressive $220.4 million. Tack on international, and experts are projecting a $950 million run.
Disney’s Tangledpremiered to a very close second, with $49.1 million for the weekend and $69 million since opening Wednesday. Disney’s 3-D animated take on Rapunzel, starring Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, boasted the second highest Thanksgiving holiday opening since the 80s, with Toy Story 2 still reigning in the top spot.
After sinking $250 million into making Tangledand then $100 million into promotion, Disney announced Tangled would be its last princess movie for some time. Now, however, Tangled’s opening has almost doubled that of The Princess and the Frog and if that can be duplicated on the international front, experts are projecting a $600 million pull, which would likely make the mouse house reconsider its position. We’ll have to wait and see how Tangled stands up to all the kid-friendly big screen fun coming for the holidays.
While Potter and Tangled both had big box office weekends, the drop to third place was a long one.
Megamind stood its ground for another weekend, holding a spot in the top three with $12.9 million. That brings the animated super hero comedy up to $130 million.
Cher and Christina Aguilera danced into fourth with Burlesque. The much-hyped release banked $11.8 million.Unstoppablecontinued to stay in the game, coming in fifth with $11.75 million.
New releases Love and Other Drugs and Faster didn’t make the top five or the $10 million mark this weekend. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway banked $9.9 million with their dramatics in Love and Other Drugs for sixth, while Faster with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton banked $8.7 million for seventh.
Due Date took eighth place with $7.3 million. The Next Three Days brought in $4.8 million for ninth and Morning Glory closed out the top ten with $4 million.
The Nutcracker in 3D didn’t make the grade, but expands from limited to wide release this weekend. A slew of new limited release films are landing on December 3, including Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor’s I Love You Phillip Morris and Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis’ Black Swan.
The quiet weekend may give Deathly Hallows and Tangled another chance to wrestle for the win, but then more big hitters enter the fray. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Tourist are just around the corner, opening December 10, to be followed by Tron: Legacy and Yogi Bear 3D on December 17. Then Little Fockers, Gulliver’s Travels and True Grit open on December 22. ‘Tis the season, indeed!
Thanksgiving weekend Box Office top ten
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, $50.3 million
2. Tangled, $49.1 million
3. Megamind, $12.9 million
4. Burlesque, $11.8 million
5. Unstoppable, $11.75 million
6. Love and Other Drugs, $9.9 million
7. Faster, $8.7 million
8. Due Date, $7.3 million
9. The Next Three Days, $4.8 million
10. Morning Glory, $4 million
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