Sunday AM Update: The 5-day Thanksgiving stretch grossed a massive $268M per ComScore, the fourth-best haul ever for the holiday, +3% over last year. Peg that to a hearty opening for Disney/Pixar’s Coco at $71.2M, a seemingly decent near $60M play by Justice League over five days and a truly great run by Lionsgate’s Wonder at $32.25M. Next to October and August’s recession — it’s boom time at the box office. Exhibitors can only be overjoyed by the foot traffic, and popcorn buckets.

Disney

Pixar’s Coco is the fourth best debut at the domestic B.O. over the Thanksgiving stretch after Disney’s Frozen ($93.5M), Moana ($82M) and Toy Story 2 ($80.1M). Coco comes in higher than the $65M spotted by its industry tracking, along with an A+ CinemaScore, and that’s proof alone that the last minute scandal with Pixar boss John Lasseter prior to the pic’s opening isn’t factoring into John Q public’s moviegoing decisions; it’s just too inside Hollywood baseball. A+ CinemaScores are rare –and audiences are responding to the great authenticity and heart of Coco and that gives confidence for Disney in regards to the pic holding during the upcoming weeks before Star Wars: The Last Jedi and through Oscar season where this heartwarming ancestral film has the edge next to the bulk of this year’s lightweight comedic animated titles from the majors. Moana held for three weekends straight at the box office, and Coco is definitely bound to do the same considering there are no major studio wide entries prior to Last Jedi and 20th Century Fox’s Ferdinand on Dec. 15. Hispanic audiences will also give Coco legs: Their turnout this weekend repped 36% of all ticket buyers per Screen Engine/ComScore next to 43% Caucasian and 8% African American and 8% Asian.

Studio insiders vouch that Coco is within the average Pixar production cost range of $175M-$200M. While Moana was cheaper and profitable at $121M off a $248.8M domestic, $643M global haul, Disney is confident that they don’t have a Good Dinosaur disaster on their hands with Coco, especially with a $153.4M global start off a 33% foreign footprint with many major territories like the UK, Japan, Italy, Germany left to go (by comparison Good Dinosaur was at $131M through two weeks at the global B.O. and ended its run at $123M domestic, $332M global). Pixar titles generally profit at a $500M global threshold (triggering ancillary prospects) and the studio believes that they can get Coco well beyond that point. Typically whenever an animated film like Good Dinosaur or Tangled has behind-the-scenes turnover among its creators, that’s when production costs on these big toons become exorbitant. Coco didn’t have that under director Lee Unkrich who first pitched the idea of a Dia de Los Muertos movie seven years ago after helming Toy Story 3. China is giving Disney plenty of excitement and is an indicator of Coco‘s wide appeal with an $18.2M start: The picture’s social media sentiment (an indicator of B.O. playability) is significantly higher than Zootopia‘s, plus Coco experienced a huge Friday to Saturday hike of 26%, unheard of when most films fall 26% to 40% over that same time span. Zootopia opened to $23.6M and ended its run at $235.6M, and Coco is running 48% dollar wise ahead of Moana’s opening in the Middle Kingdom.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros.’ Justice League, the superhero movie that should have been, came in at $40.7M over three days, -57%, with a 5 day of $59.7M and running cume of $171.5M. While the Thanksgiving holiday prevented Justice League from weathering the steep drops of Batman v. Superman (-69%) and Suicide Squad (-67%), the Zack Snyder opus over FSS made less than the respective second weekends of those DC titles with $51.3M and $43.5M. Domestic is lagging far behind BvS and Suicide Squad, both which eclipsed $325M stateside, however, if Justice League can do a 2.7x multiple by the end of its run (or $257M), it raises its chances for breakeven. Currently, Justice League is pacing ahead of Fantastic Beasts’ domestic B.O. at the same point in time by 10% and that movie ended its run at $234M. In weekend two abroad, Justice League grossed $72.2M (-61%, meh) in 66 markets for a running foreign total of $309.8M and global of $481.3M. Said one razor-sharp film financier about all of these numbers, “I was surprised that Justice League did not drop more. A solid hold after a very disappointing start.” Our financial sources working in the biz and studio insiders claim that a high $600M take to $700M gets this DC pic to breakeven…a feat that’s still unclear.

Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics’ six-time nominated Independent Spirit award title pic Call Me By Your Name charted the best theater average of 2017 with $404,8K on four screens in NY and Los Angeles and a per theater of $1o1K beating A24’s Lady Bird‘s opening PTA of $91K. And again, a solid PTA debut for Focus Features’ Darkest Hour at $44K per theater.

Chart based on studio estimates for the Thanksgiving stretch of Nov. 22-26 as of Sunday AM, ranked by 5-day:

1.) Coco (DIS), 3,987 theaters / $13.2M Wed. (includes $2.3M previews) /$8.9M Thursday/ $18.9M Friday/ $18.4M Sat/ $11.7M Sun/3-day cume: $49M /5-day:$71.2M Wk 1

2.) Justice League (WB), 4,051 theaters / $10.45M Wed/$8.5M Thursday/$16.6M Fri/$15.8M Sat/ $8.3M Sun/ 3-day cume: $40.7M (-56%)/5-day:$59.7M/Total: $171.8M/ Wk 2

3.) Wonder (WB), 3,140 theaters (+44) /$6M Wed./$3.9M Thur/$8.8M Fri/$8.4M Sat/ $5.1M Sun/3-day cume: $22.3M (-19%)/ 5-day: $32.3M/Total: $69.4M/Wk 2

4). Thor: Ragnarok (DIS), 3,281 theaters (-779) / $4M Wed./$3.5M Thur/ $6.7M Fri/ $6.6M Sat/$3.45M Sun/ 3-day cume: $16.8M (-22%) / 5-day: $24.2M/Total cume: $277.5M / Wk 4

5.)Daddy’s Home 2 (PAR), 3,518 theaters (-57) / $2.7M Wed/ $2.67M/$5M Fri/ $5.27M Sat/$2.98M Sun/ 3-day cume: $13.25M (-8%)/ 5-day: $18.635M/ Total: $72.6M/Wk 3

6) Murder on the Orient Express (FOX), 3,214 theaters (-140)/ $2.56M Wed/$3M Thur/$5.27M Fri/$5M Sat /$2.73M Sun/3-day cume: $13M (-6%)/5-day: $18.615M/Total: $74.2M/ Wk 3

7.)The Star (SONY), 2,837 theaters / $1.64M Wed. /$1M Thur/$2.78M Fri /$2.57M Sat/$1.52M Sun/ 3-day cume: $6.9M (-30%)/ 5-day:$9.5M /Total:$22M/Wk 2

8). A Bad Moms Christmas (STX), 2,948 theaters (-639) /$950k Wed/$810K Thur/ $1.8M Fri/$2M Sat/ $1.1M Sun/3-day cume: $5M (-28%) / 5-day: $6.77M/Total cume: $59.75M / Wk 4

9.) Roman J. Israel, Esq. (SONY),1,648 theaters (+1,644)/ $752K Wed. /$930K Thur/$1.8M Fri/$1.69M Sat/ $1M Sun/ 3-day cume: $4.5M /PTA: $2,8K/5-day: $6.2M/Total: $6.4M/Wk 2

10.) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO (FSL), 590 theaters (+537) / $790K Wed. /$665k Thur/$1.64M Fri/$1.69M Sat/ $1.07M Sun 3-day cume: $4.4M (+291%) /PTA: $7,4K/ 5-day: $5.855M/Total: $7.6M /Wk 3

11). Lady Bird (A24), 741 theaters (+503) /$754K Wed/ $576K Thur/ $1.5M Fri/$1.5M Sat/ $974K Sun/3-day cume: $4M (+60%)/ PTA: $5,1K/5-day:$5.37M/ Total cume: $10.6M / Wk 4

12.) The Man Who Invented Christmas (BST), 532 theaters / $198K Wed. /$256K Thur/ $450K Fri/3-day cume: $1.3M /5-day: $1.796M/ Wk 1

Notables:

Call Me By Your Name (SPC), 4 theaters / $161K Fri/$129k Saturday / $114,8K Sun/3-day cume: $404,8k /PTA: $101k /Wk 1

Darkest Hour (FOC), 4 theaters / $38K Wed. /$33K Thur/ $61K Fri/$66K Sat/ $49K Sun/3-day cume: $176k /PTA: $44k/ 5-day: $248k/ Wk 1

Saturday AM Writethru following Black Friday update: While Friday was definitely a great day at the box office with the top 25 films making approximately $72M to last year’s $71M Black Friday, everything still came in a little lighter. Industry estimates now see Disney/Pixar’s Coco at $18.66M for Friday, on a path to a $48.4M 3-day and a $7o.6M 5-day. That’s still ahead of Pixar’s Good Dinosaur ($15.5M Fri, $39.1M FSS, $55.4M 5-day) two years ago (and that bombed), and a few steps behind last year’s Moana and mega hit Frozen which respectively posted $82M and $93.6M over their Thanksgiving 5-day stretches. One analyst is pointing to Disney’s Tangled as a numerical comp which earned $48.8M over three and $68.7M over five. Black Friday was +105% over Thanksgiving’s $35.1M this year. Exhibition stocks in response to the multiplex foot traffic were up on Friday in short trading.

Typically, Pixar movies going back to Frozen dip on the Saturday following Black Friday by 2%-6%, however, ComScore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak shows a very strong Hispanic turnout at 39% for Coco (vs. 19% for Moana a year ago), and that demographic should remain strong through Sunday, making for better prospects. Caucasians repped 42% for Coco to Moana‘s 49%. PostTrak showed a rare, strong five-out-of-five stars for Coco which is on par with CinemaScore’s A+. Per PostTrak, Females under 25 were the predominant demo (30%), followed by females over 25 (29%), men over 25 (25%) and men under 25 (16%). This was a similar make-up to Moana a year ago, however, there were slightly more Dads (men over 25) than Moms (women over 25). A third of those who took in Coco attended with an adult family member, while 21% of all ticket buyers took a child family member. Definite recommend is at a very high 76%. CinemaScore’s opening night audience was made up of 60% females, 40% under 18. Every demo gave Coco an A+ except for the over 50 crowd (10%) who gave it an A.

Coco rang up $9M on Thanksgiving, which again beats Good Dinosaur‘s Turkey Day ($6.5M), is $900K shy of Moana ($9.9M) and $2M behind Frozen‘s ($11M) Thanksgiving. The notion is that the latter two films had the Disney princess halo working in their favor at the box office.

That said, when it comes to launching a new line of animated characters, Disney has all the social media and vertical integration power in its TV channels and parks to raise a fresh face among its faithful.

Disney’s California Adventure introduced “Plaza de la Familia” in September, a section of the park that celebrated Coco. In addition, California Adventure, Walt Disney World and Disney Cruise Line all featured an 11-minute sneak peek of the film this month.

Disney

RelishMix points out “part of the magic of The Mouse is when a film like Coco or next month’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuts a trailer or any other social materials: A film has 156.8M fans and followers to reach right out of the gate.” Roughly broken down such Disney pages/feeds pushing Coco include the main Disney portal (69.3M), Walt Disney Animation Studios (17.7M) and Walt Disney Studios (42.4M). RelishMix weighs Coco‘s social media universe across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube views at close to 483M, which is “well ahead of the family animated genre average SMU of 253.4M”. The teaser trailer for Coco debuted in March and played on the biggest film of the year, Beauty and the Beast, with the first full trailer dropping in June in connection with Cars 3.

Though not a marketing stunt – let’s call it free publicity – Conan O’Brien had a bone to pick with Disney over the film’s title soon after the first trailer dropped: The studio was using the late night host’s nickname (coined originally by Tom Hanks) without his permission. The clip generated 812K views:

Other trailers followed in September and November running across major pics and TV programs. A comedic short Dante’s Lunch – A Short Tail introduced the film’s Xolo dog, Dante.

RelishMix is also impressed with Disney’s launch of the Coco soundtrack which through various songs clips counts north of 20M views on YouTube. Disney introduced the pic’s main protagonist Miguel on NBC’s The Voice. On the final night of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars on Oct. 16 aka “Disney night”, the show featured a performance by Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev singing the pic’s signature song “Remember Me” penned by Frozen Oscar-winning songwriters Robert and Kristen Anderson Lopez.

Disney

Pixar saw its first VR experience with Coco VR which is available on Oculus Rift and Gear VR. Other online promos included Coco as a Facebook Beta partner on an Augmented Reality mask for the FB app. In addition, there was a Pixar Artists College Tour at 60 colleges in 20-plus markets, as well as WOM screenings in 45 markets.

Ad partners included Airbnb, Ancestry, Chatbooks, Guitar Center, The HERDEZ Brand, Purple, Southwest Airlines (including Boeing 737-700 wrap), Subway, and Sun Rype.

Warner Bros via YouTube

Warner Bros./DC’s Justice League wasn’t that far behind Coco on Thanksgiving, making $8.5M, however, their gap widened on Friday with the Zack Snyder-directed title earning $16.4M. This puts the pic at a $40.8M second FSS (-57%) and $59.9M 5-day for a running total that’s just under $172M. Pic is running 10% ahead of Warner’s Thanksgiving hit a year ago Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them which churned a 3x multiple from its opening for a final cume of $234M. If Justice League can keep up that pace throughout December, it will end its stateside run at $257M. Still, Disney/Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok is still stealing away dollars from Justice League‘s bank account with the Son of Asgard threequel grossing $24M over five-days. Fans wouldn’t accuse Thor of stealing: He’s just the better superhero movie.

Lionsgate’s Wonder in third place made $8.75M on Friday which now puts the Stephen Chbosky-directed title at $22.4M over FSS, -19%, and $32.3M over five with a 10-day run of $69.5M. Pete Hammond reports that Lionsgate will give Wonder an awards season push even though the distributor’s original intention was to make the movie a commercial success over the holiday. Tears flowed at a recent AMPAS screening.

Sony Pictures

With $6M-plus over five days, Sony’s Roman J. Israel, Esq. is coming in at the low end of where rivals were pegging it at $6M over five-days. On a three-day basis, Roman is down there with the Washington’s 1990 openings, i.e. Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues ($4.4M) and Ricochet ($4.8M). The movie premiered at TIFF but then went in for an edit afterwards. The movie is slowed greatly by a 55% Rotten Tomatoes score, and the fact that it doesn’t have the brilliant word of mouth that Denzel Washington’s Fences did a year ago. That movie served as solid counter-programming in a Star Wars-controlled market and won an Oscar for Viola Davis’ best supporting turn. Over four days, Fences made $11.6M at 2,233 theaters. Even though Roman J. Israel, Esq. is coming in higher than other notable arthouse titles on the chart such as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Lady Bird, the latter two movies are packing their house and putting up better theater averages with $7,4K and $5,1K to Roman‘s $2,8K.

Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics’ Independent Spirit Award six-time nominee Call Me By Your Name is posting an estimated $111,5K per theater which will easily give it the best opening theater average of the year, beating Lady Bird‘s $91K four weeks ago. Focus Features’ Darkest Hour from director Joe Wright is putting up a solid $43,2K currently over three-days.

Chart based on industry estimates for the Thanksgiving stretch of Nov. 22-26 as of Saturday AM

Ranked by 5-day

1.) Coco (DIS), 3,987 theaters / $13.3M Wed. (includes $2.3M previews) /$9M Thursday/ $18.66M Friday/ 3-day cume: $48.4M /5-day:$70.6M Wk 1

2.) Justice League (WB), 4,051 theaters / $10.45M Wed/$8.5M Thursday/$16.4M Fri/ 3-day cume: $40.8M (-56%)/5-day:$59.9M/Total: $171.8M/ Wk 2

3.) Wonder (WB), 3,140 theaters (+44) /$6M Wed./$3.9M Thur/$8.75M Fri/3-day cume: $22.4M (-19%)/ 5-day: $32.3M/Total: $69.5M/Wk 2

4). Thor: Ragnarok (DIS), 3,281 theaters (-779) / $4M Wed./$3.5M Thur/ $6.6M Fri/ 3-day cume: $16.8M (-22%) / 5-day: $24.2M/Total cume: $277.5M / Wk 4

5./6) Murder on the Orient Express (FOX), 3,214 theaters (-140)/ $2.55M Wed/$3M Thur/$5.2M Fri/ 3-day cume: $13.2M (-4%)/5-day: $18.8M/Total: $74.3M/ Wk 3

Daddy’s Home 2 (PAR), 3,518 theaters (-57) / $2.7M Wed/ $2.67M/$4.9M Fri/ 3-day cume: $13M (-10%)/ 5-day: $18.2M/ Total: $72.2M/Wk 3

7.)The Star (SONY), 2,837 theaters / $1.64M Wed. /$1M Thur/$2.77M Fri / 3-day cume: $7.1M (-27%)/ 5-day:$9.8M /Total:$22.3M/Wk 2

8). A Bad Moms Christmas (STX), 2,948 theaters (-639) /$1.07M Wed/$940K Thur/ $1.8M Fri/3-day cume: $4.5M (-36%) / 5-day: $6.4M/Total cume: $59.3M / Wk 4

9.) Roman J. Israel, Esq. (SONY),1,648 theaters (+1,644)/ $752K Wed. /$930K Thur/$1.8M Fri/ 3-day cume: $4.67M /PTA: $2,8K/5-day: $6.3M/Total: $6.4M/Wk 2

10.) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO (FSL), 590 theaters (+537) / $786K Wed. /$665k Thur/$1.6M Fri/ 3-day cume: $4.4M (+291%) /PTA: $7,4K/ 5-day: $5.9M/Total: $7.65M /Wk 3

11). Lady Bird (A24), 741 theaters (+503) /$754K Wed/ $576K Thur/ $1.5M Fri/3-day cume: $4M (+60%)/ PTA: $5,1K/5-day:$5.3M/ Total cume: $10.6M / Wk 4

12.) The Man Who Invented Christmas (BST), 532 theaters / $198K Wed. /$256K Thur/ $450K Fri/3-day cume: $1.2M /5-day: $1.66M/ Wk 1

Notables:

Call Me By Your Name (SPC), 4 theaters / $161K Fri/3-day cume: $446k /PTA: $111,5k /Wk 1

Darkest Hour (FOC), 4 theaters / $38K Wed. /$33K Thur/ $61K Fri/3-day cume: $173k /PTA: $43,2k/ 5-day: $240k/ Wk 1

Disney

Thanksgiving AM Update: Moviegoers love Coco: The Disney film earned an A+ CinemaScore last night, Pixar’s 6th ever, and the best since Up. On top of that, Coco came in much higher on its first day with an estimated $13.3M; which is behind Thanksgiving openers Moana ($15.5M) and Frozen ($15.1M) and ahead of Good Dinosaur ($9.76m) and Tangled ($11.9M). Currently, the Lee Unkrich-Adrian Molina film should hit $70M-plus in five days, and $47M over three days. But given how wild Black Friday is at the box office, and the current buzz for the film, Coco could conceivably go much higher.

The Pixar movie steps on the capes of Warner Bros/DC super friends movie Justice League which earned $10.45M yesterday, -1% from Tuesday for a running total of $122.3M. Pic’s 5-day is at $63.6M with three day landing at $44.1M, -53%, which again, thanks to the holiday, bests the post-Easter drop of Batman v. Superman (-69%) and August champ Suicide Squad (-67%).

While many have dinged Justice League for being less-than as a superhero movie, especially in its ensemble execution, the fact is that it’s brought more dollars to the Thanksgiving frame than Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them a year ago: Last weekend the box office was at $200.3M, +27% higher than a year ago. This makes exhibitors happy.

In addition, another note about Fantastic Beasts: Even though that movie leaned more female at 55% in weekend one, it churned a 3X multiple at the box office ending its run at $234M. It will be interesting to see if Justice League does the same. By Sunday, the super friends will be pacing 12% ahead of Fantastic Beasts through 10 days with $175.4M. Some of this boils down to whether WB can keep close to 2K theaters like they did last year with a Star Wars on the marquee.

Lionsgate/Participant/Walden Media’s Wonder made $6M yesterday and is on course to do better than its opening in weekend two with an estimated $29M (+5%) and a five-day of $40.9M.

Industry estimates as of Thanksgiving morning for the Thanksgiving stretch of Nov. 22-26:

1.) Coco (DIS), 3,987 theaters / $13.3M Fri. (includes $2.3M previews) / 3-day cume: $47M /5-day:$70M Wk 1

2.) Justice League (WB), 4,051 theaters / $10.45M Wed 3-day cume: $44.1M (-53%)/5-day:$63.6M/Total: $175.4M/ Wk 2

3.) Wonder (WB), 3,140 theaters (+44) /$6M Wed. 3-day cume: $29M / 5-day: $40.9M/Total: $78M/Wk 2

4). Thor: Ragnarok (DIS), 3,281 theaters (-779) / $4M Wed./ 3-day cume: $18M (-17%) / 5-day: $25.5M/Total cume: $278.8M / Wk 4

5.) Daddy’s Home 2 (PAR), 3,518 theaters (-57) / $2.7M Wed/ 3-day cume: $14.3M (-1%)/ 5-day: $19.2M/ Total: $73.2M/Wk 3

6.) Murder on the Orient Express (FOX), 3,214 theaters (-140)/ $2.55M Wed/ 3-day cume: $13.7M (-1%)/5-day: $18.9M/Total: $74.5M/ Wk 3

7.)The Star (SONY), 2,837 theaters / $1.64M Wed. /3-day cume: $7.35M (-25%)/ 5-day:$10.1M /Total:$22.6M/Wk 2

8). A Bad Moms Christmas (STX), 2,948 theaters (-639) /$1.07M Wed/3-day cume: $5.4M (-23%) / 5-day: $7.5M/Total cume: $60.5M / Wk 4

Twentieth Century Fox

9.) Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, MO (FSL), 590 theaters (+537) / $786K Wed. / 3-day cume: $4.29M (+246%) / 5-day: $5.75M/Total: $7.5M /Wk 3

10). Lady Bird (A24), 741 theaters (+503) /$754K Wed/ 3-day cume: $3.88M (+52%)/ 5-day:$5.4M/ Total cume: $10.7M / Wk 4

11.) Roman J. Israel, Esq. (SONY),1,648 theaters (+1,644)/ $752K Wed. / 3-day cume: $3.7M /5-day: $5.2M/Total: $5.2M/Wk 2

12.) The Man Who Invented Christmas (BST), 532 theaters / $198K Wed. /3-day cume: $975K /5-day: $1.4M/ Wk 1

UPDATE, midday Friday: Disney/Pixar’s Coco is looking at an opening day of $12.5 million (including last night’s $2.3M) as of this point per industry estimates, which is $3M less than what Moana chalked up a year ago. Right now, because it’s so early, both Coco and Warner Bros’ Justice League are in a battle for No. 1 overall at the domestic box office with an estimated $47M three-day and $68M five-day each. As we move along this week, it should settle down and separate the two.

Warner Bros.

Coco will beat Justice League today with the latter Zack Snyder movie making an estimated $10.5M, down 1% versus yesterday. If its projections hold, the DC superhero team-up will touch just under $180M. While we’ve been complaining about the film’s lackluster performance in regards to the DC franchise, exhibitors could care less about that: They’re rolling in concession cash, and the marketplace in the past three weeks has been a boom versus last summer’s doldrums.

Lionsgate’s Wonder is looking at $6M today, up 7% from Tuesday, with a current three-day outlook of $26.5M and five-day of $37.5M, heading toward $74.6M. The Stephen Chbosky-directed film will easily be Lionsgate’s best of 2017, topping John Wick: Chapter Two‘s $92M. On a three-day basis, Wonder is expected to ease 4% right now. Wow.

Disney/Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok is looking at a $4M Wednesday, a three-day of $17.8M and five-day of $25M — still money out of Justice League‘s pocket. Running cume by Sunday looks to be $278.2M.

Other holders are as follows:

Murder on the Orient Express (Fox) $2.6M Wed, 3-day $13.5M and 5-day $19M, running cume by Sunday of $74.6M.

Daddy’s Home 2 (Par) $2.5M Wed, 3-day $13.5M and 5-day of $18M, running come by Sunday of $72M.

Twentieth Century Fox

Expanding titles:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (FSL), 590 runs. $800,000 Wed, 3-day of $4.5M, 5-day of $6.2M. Total by Sunday of $7.96M.

Roman J. Israel, Esq (Sony), 1,648 runs. Looks like $800K today (including $175K from Tuesday night) for 3-day of $4.1M and 5-day of $5.7M. Total by Sunday of $5.8M.

Lady Bird (A24), 741 runs. $600K Wed, 3-day $3.4M and 5-day of $4.6M, Total by Sunday of $9.9M.

PREVIOUSLY, 8:26 AM: Disney/Pixar’s Coco began its Thanksgiving march on the box office last night with $2.3 million, with an eye on making $60M or more over the next five days.

Coco opens at a sensitive time for Disney. Just yesterday, Pixar boss John Lasseter said he was taking a six-month sabbatical amid allegations of inappropriate behavior. Still, that Hollywood insider scandal isn’t expected to rock Coco‘s prospects in the rest of the U.S. and Canada.

Coco‘s preview is just $300,ooo shy of Moana‘s $2.6M Tuesday preview a year ago. That pic racked up $15.5M on its first day. Coco is also far ahead of The Good Dinosaur, considered a bomb for Pixar with $1.3M previews ($9.76M Wednesday). Coco is also ahead of Disney’s uber hit Frozen, which made $1.2M on its first Tuesday ($15.1M Wednesday) during Thanksgiving week.

Coco in its Dia de los muertos story doesn’t have the Disney princess factor Moana possessed, which pushed down on Coco‘s projections prior to opening. But the film has a 95% certified fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, which could push its tickets sales higher; it’s just one point below Moana‘s RT rating. Moana grossed $56.6M in its first three days and $82M over five, making it the second-best Thanksgiving stretch debut after Frozen‘s $93.6M. Coco carries a reported production cost in the Pixar range which is typically between $175M-$200M before P&A, however, those in the animation world believe it’s much higher north of $225M.

The night before Thanksgiving is a notable one at the B.O. and Black Friday is even bigger. Today there are 74% kids off from K-12 and another 59% of colleges. That number moves up to 100% over the next two days.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros/DC’s Justice League led all films in regular release with a big Tuesday of $10.6M, up 41% over Monday, for a running cume of $111.9M. The Zack Snyder-directed movie is expected to take in a gross similar to Coco‘s with $60M over the next five days. While critics have strangled Justice League with a 41% Rotten Tomatoes score, audiences are enjoying it with final PostTrak showing a 4-out-of-5-star response with males at 62% enjoying the movie with an 80% overall positive, and females at 38% giving it an 85% grade. Warners is hoping that more of those older female Wonder Woman fans come out, just like they did for her June solo outing: Females over 25 are giving Justice League its best grades at 90%, but they’re still in the minority among the pic’s headcount repping only 18% of the audience. Leading the charge are males under 35 (32%, 78% positive), males over 25 (30%, 81% positive), and women under 25 (20% at 81% positive). Justice League overall has a 65% definite recommend.

Lionsgate

Lionsgate’s Wonder chalked up an estimated $5.6M yesterday, up 43% over Monday, for a five-day total of $37.1M. Many expect the Julia Roberts-Owen Wilson movie to be north of $64M by Sunday in its running domestic total.

Sony’s Roman J. Israel, Esq. expands from four to 1,648 today. Bleecker Street has the period piece The Man Who Invented Christmas in 500 houses, while Focus Features will open its Gary Oldman-as-Winston Churchill biopic Darkest Hour in four New York and Los Angeles theaters. Ditto on that count for Sony Pictures Classics’ Spirit Award-nom leading pic Call Me By Your Name.