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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
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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.

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Movie Review: ‘Smurfs’ Has Rihanna but Not Much Else

This image released by Paramount Animation shows characters Papa Smurf, voiced by John Goodman, Smurfette, voiced by Rihanna and Vanity Smurf, voiced by Maya Erskine, from the film "Smurfs." (Paramount Animation via AP)
This image released by Paramount Animation shows characters Papa Smurf, voiced by John Goodman, Smurfette, voiced by Rihanna and Vanity Smurf, voiced by Maya Erskine, from the film "Smurfs." (Paramount Animation via AP)
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Movie Review: ‘Smurfs’ Has Rihanna but Not Much Else

This image released by Paramount Animation shows characters Papa Smurf, voiced by John Goodman, Smurfette, voiced by Rihanna and Vanity Smurf, voiced by Maya Erskine, from the film "Smurfs." (Paramount Animation via AP)
This image released by Paramount Animation shows characters Papa Smurf, voiced by John Goodman, Smurfette, voiced by Rihanna and Vanity Smurf, voiced by Maya Erskine, from the film "Smurfs." (Paramount Animation via AP)

Justin Timberlake had “Trolls.” Rihanna has “Smurfs.” Now, we patiently await a “Gummi Bears” with the Biebs.

But first we have “Smurfs,” which, like “Trolls,” gets as much mileage as it can from its pop singer-voice actor. Rihanna voices Smurfette and supplies a new song, giving a half-hearted injection of star power to an otherwise uninspired, modestly scaled, kiddo-friendly cartoon feature.

“Smurfs,” directed by Chris Miller (“Puss in Boots,” “Shrek the Third”), cribs heavily from the “Trolls” playbook. Both feature brightly colored little forest creatures that like a good tune. In the opening of “Smurfs,” Papa Smurf (John Goodman) is DJing for a dancing Smurf Village.

As the many Smurfs gyrate next to mushroom houses, you might find yourself wondering how we got here. And what exactly is a Smurf anyway? It’s been nearly 70 years since Belgian comic artist Peyo created “Les Schtroumpfs,” though most of those still familiar with the little blue fellas remember them from the 1980s Hanna-Barbera cartoons.

The Smurfs have never really transcended their Saturday morning cartoon origins. Neither a pair of live-action hybrid movies in the early 2010s or a 2017 animated release have done much more than keep us vaguely aware of what a Phrygian cap is.

And “Smurfs” is unlikely to change that. The best thing that can be said for the latest attempt to reboot the blue Belgian beings is that it maintains the light feel of a morning cartoon. Even with a brief SpongeBob SquarePants short running ahead of it, “Smurfs” — seemingly designed to be the least ambitious of all possible parent-child outings — passes in about 90 minutes.

The pressing issue in Miller’s film is that one Smurf, No Name Smurf (James Corden), lacks a defining feature. There are so many other labels already taken that all that’s left for him are Clog Making Smurf and Shark Taming Smurf — and neither of those is promising, either.

When No Name Smurf suddenly grows magical powers, he gets a boost in confidence but inadvertently sets off a dangerous chain reaction. The burst of magic reveals the location of Smurf Village and a long-hidden magical book that, if reunited with three others, confers world domination. (Fun fact: This is also what happens if you reunify all first editions of James Joyce’s “Ulysses.”)

The outburst brings the attention of the evil wizard Razamel, brother of Gargamel. (Both are excellently voiced by JP Karliak.) And the Smurfs are cast into a chase through dimensions to rescue the kidnapped Papa Smurf and prevent Razamel from seizing the fourth book. The trip takes them through Paris, Munich, Australia and, briefly, Claymation.

The zaniness is often forced. There are also Koosh ball-like creatures named Snooter Poots with a leader named Mama Poot (Natasha Lyonne). And if you were ever hoping to hear Rihanna sing, as a Smurf, from the seat of a kangaroo pouch, your movie has finally arrived.

But any expectations of something more quickly dissipate, despite the fact that “Smurfs” was scripted by Pam Brady, the screenwriter of “Hot Rod” and co-writer of “Team America: World Police.” Most of the attempts at adult-winking gags are hackneyed jokes about Zoom, podcasting, spam filters and LinkedIn.

You can almost feel IP-rights pressures animating the entire enterprise. See, there are other Smurf names out there. What about Corporate Mandate Smurf?