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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: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
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Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)

Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle “Heads of State,” but it’s surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO.

The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected US President Will Derringer, a former action star.

“Heads of State,” directed by Ilya Naishuller (“Nobody”), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that “Heads of State,” which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: “If NATO falls, there’s no backstop against despots and dictators.”

It’s a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that “Heads of State” is too timely, don’t. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much “Heads of State” — like most of Hollywood’s output — is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality.

You could argue that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of “Heads of State” is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie’s mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences.

The best thing going for “Heads of State” is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The “Suicide Squad” co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters’ divergent histories — Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician — in debates like which one of them is “gym strong” as opposed to “strong strong.”

That’s one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in “Heads of State” goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies — “Midnight Run,” “48 Hrs.,” “The Nice Guys” — are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena’s Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they’re both beefy dudes in suits.

As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we’re left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions.