Disney's 'Encanto' Leads Muted Thanksgiving Box Office

Adassa attends the premiere for the film "Encanto" at El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu/File Photo
Adassa attends the premiere for the film "Encanto" at El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu/File Photo
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Disney's 'Encanto' Leads Muted Thanksgiving Box Office

Adassa attends the premiere for the film "Encanto" at El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu/File Photo
Adassa attends the premiere for the film "Encanto" at El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles, California, US, November 3, 2021. REUTERS/Ringo Chiu/File Photo

Disney has reclaimed its rightful place at the top of Thanksgiving box office charts. "Encanto," the studio's new animated musical fable, collected $40 million since Wednesday, a robust tally at a time when family audiences haven't been eager to return to cinemas.

It's become holiday tradition for Disney to release a family friendly movie around Turkey Day, and "Encanto," an animated movie with critical acclaim, serves as a promising sign that parents are gaining confidence to bring their young kids back to the movies.

The movie's five-day total is considerably short of the studio's recent Thanksgiving releases, such as "Frozen II" in 2019 ($123.7 million), "Ralph Breaks the Internet" in 2018 ($84.6 million) and "Coco" in 2017 ($71 million).

However, "Encanto" has landed the best opening weekend for an animated film during the pandemic. That's notable because movies geared toward family crowds have struggled to sell tickets and in a
normal year, animation is regularly one of the highest-grossing (if not the highest-grossing) genre.

Moviegoers also feasted on MGM's A-list crime drama "House of Gucci," which brought in $14.2 million over the traditional weekend and $21.8 million in its first five days of release, proving there's still an audience for adult dramas, as long as Lady Gaga is featured in a starring role, Reuters reported.

Because of its $75 million production budget, "House of Gucci" will rely on substantial overseas ticket sales to turn a profit. Already, the R-rated drama has earned $12.8 million from 40 international countries, bringing its worldwide total to $34 million. Among foreign markets, "House of Gucci" had the biggest turnout in the United Kingdom and Ireland ($3.4 million), France ($1.9 million) and Mexico ($1 million).

"Encanto" was similarly pricey, costing the studio $120 million to make before accounting for marketing fees. Both "Encanto" and "House of Gucci" are playing exclusively in theaters, which should prove to be beneficial in the way of ticket sales.

Also new to theaters this weekend is Sony's "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City," a reboot of the long-running horror series, landed in fifth place. The R-rated thriller earned $8.8 million over the five-day holiday stretch, a result that fell short of expectations. It cost only $25 million to produce, so "Raccoon City" won't have as much of an uphill battle to get out of the red.



Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
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Tomorrowland Music Festival Opens after its Main Stage was Destroyed by Huge Fire

The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
The burned main stage is seen at the Tomorrowland music festival in Boom, Belgium, Friday, July 18, 2025, two days after a huge fire destroyed the stage on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)

Fans roared in excitement and organizers sighed with relief as the Tomorrowland music festival kicked off Friday — just two days after a massive fire engulfed the main stage and threw one of Europe's biggest summer concert events into doubt.

Workers labored around the clock to clear out the debris from the elaborate backdrop that was consumed in Wednesday's fire.

Shouting ‘’We made it!'', the festival's opening performers, Australian electronic music group Nervo, were able to take to the main stage Friday after a last-minute scramble and slight delay. Some charred frames were still visible behind them.

No one was hurt in the fire, organizers said. The causes are being investigated.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world attend Tomorrowland's annual multi-day festival outside the Belgian town of Boom.

Some 38,000 people were camping at the festival site Friday, Tomorrowland spokesperson Debby Wilmsen said.

’’Maybe there are some few people that say, OK, we would like to have a refund, but it’s only like a very small percentage because most of them are still coming to the festival,” she told AP.

“It is all about unity, and I think with a good vibe and a positive energy that our festival-goers give to each other and the music we offer, I think they will still have a good time,″ she said. ’’We really tried our best.″

Australian fans Zak Hiscock and Brooke Antoniou — who traveled half the world to see the famed festival as part of a summer holiday in Europe — described hearing about the fire.

“We were sitting having dinner when we actually heard the news of the stage burning down. We were very devastated and shattered, quite upset because we travelled a long way,'' Hiscock said.

Ukrainian visitor Oleksandr Beshkynskyi shared their joy that the festival went ahead as planned.

‘’It’s not just about the one DJ or two DJs you’re looking to see, but about all the mood and about the dream being alive," Beshkynskyi said.