One Year Ago--November 23, 2018: Even as sequelitis infected Pixar, even as Disney was churning out low-budgeted sequels and prequels for the DTV market via its DisneyToons subsidiary, Walt Disney Animation Studios largely avoided follow-ups, with 1990's The Rescuers Down Under, 2000's Fantasia 2000, and 2011's Winnie the Pooh being the only titles that could be even remotely considered sequels. However, a studio as franchise crazy as Disney wasn't going to just let all those original properties just sit there forever, particularly after DisneyToons was shuttered a couple of years ago. So, just in time for Thanksgiving, came Ralph Breaks the Internet, a follow-up to 2012's video game comedy Wreck-It Ralph, where Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) head to the World Wide Web to purchase a new steering wheel for Vanellope's broken game, where they deal with feelings of jealousy and longing and meet Every. Disney. Princess. Ever. Critics generally liked the film, even if it was considered somewhat of a comedown after Moana and Zootopia from a couple years earlier, and it did land a Animated Feature nomination at the Oscars. Like most Thanksgiving week releases, it went out on Wednesday, opening to $56.2 million over the weekend and $84.8 million over the five-day long weekend, but proved to be a slight disappointment at the box office, topping out at $201.1 million, the lowest gross for a Disney Animated Studios feature since the first Wreck-It Ralph. Another sequel debuted in second as Creed II (aka Rocky VIII) reunited Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone as Adonis Creed and Rocky Balboa, as Creed takes on Viktor Drago, the son of the man who killed his father, Ivan Drago (Dolph Lungreen), way back in 1985 (and Rocky IV). Creed II wasn't nearly as well liked as the first Creed had been in 2015, and Stallone didn't get another Oscar nomination. The film did open to $35.6 million over the Friday-Sunday portion of the weekend and $56 million over the five day, before going on to gross $115.7 million, a slight improvement over the 2015 movie, but actually below what Rocky, Rocky III, and Rocky IV had grossed back in the 70s and 80s. Speaking of retreads, the latest redo of Robin Hood debuted rather disastrously in 7th place, below The Grinch, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Instant Family. This one, which casts Taron Egerton as Robin of Loxley, had somewhat of a steampunk vibe to it, as well as some comic book influences (this time around, no one knows that Robin of Loxley is Robin Hood). Jamie Foxx plays a re-imagined Little John, now an Arab from the Crusades (a characterization imported from the 1991 version with Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman). This version couldn't steal a good review, as critics hated it and audiences largely ignored it. It made $9.2 million over the weekend and $14.3 million over the 5-day, before running out of steam at $30.8 million. Eventual Best Picture winner Green Book moved into the Top 10 for the first time, at #9, while two of the films it beat opened in limited release. The Favourite, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, starred British character actress Olivia Colman as the frail and eccentric Queen Anne, whose affections are fought for by two of her underlings, Emma Stone and Rachael Weisz. Critics loved the film and it would receive 10 Oscar nominations, including Picture, Directer, and Supporting Actress for both Stone and Weisz. Colman scored a huge upset win by winning Best Actress. That helped the black comedy cross over, as it grossed $34.4 million. Also getting 10 nominations was Roma, a Mexican autobiographical drama directed by Alfonso Cuaron about a maid (Yalitza Aparicio) whose boyfriend abandons her when she becomes pregnant, and her employer (Marina de Tavira), whose husband also leaves her. The film won Cuaron his second Directing Oscar, and it also won for Foreign Language Film and for Cuaron's own lush, black-and-white cinematography. It was also nominated for its screenplay, for de Tavira's Supporting work, and for Aparicio for Best Actress, for her acting debut. It was the heavy favorite to win Best Picture, until Green Book happened. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly how much Roma made, as Netflix refuses to release box office numbers, but estimates are that it made over $3 million despite only playing in a few art houses for a few weeks before the streaming service debuted it for home viewing.
Five Years Ago--November 21, 2014: Hollywood ran scared this pre-Thanksgiving weekend, as only one film opened wide. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay--Part 1 continued the trend of splitting the final book of YA series into two separate films, as Katness Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), after being rescued from the Games as part of a conspiracy against the evil ruling Capital, finds herself in the legendary District 13, run by Julianne Moore, where she becomes the symbol for the rebelling districts. Like the other films in the series, it features an impressive cast (no less than six former and/or future Oscar nominees or winners), and good, but not great reviews. Despite the wide berth given to it, however, it's hard to think it didn't underperform. Mockingjay--Part 1 opened to $121.9 million, more than $100 million more than what second place Big Hero 6 took in that weekend, but it was significantly off the $158.1 million that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire had earned one year prior. It would also finish nearly $90 million behind Fire in total gross, earning "only" $337.1 million. The only other news of significance for the weekend was that The Theory of Everything reached the Top 10 for the first time.
Ten Years Ago--November 20, 2009: Before Thanksgiving was dominated by The Hunger Games movies, it spent several years showcasing another series of adaptions of YA novels featuring a teenage female protagonist and her relationship between two suitors. But while The Hunger Games tended to attract A-level talent and solid reviews, the Twilight movies always had much less impressive casts and little in the area of critical acclaim. The second movie, The Twilght Saga: New Moon, has vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) leaving town to protect human girlfriend Bella (Kristen Stewart), which puts her in a funk, at least until she discovers that her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner) is actually a werewolf. Meanwhile, an evil vampire is stalking Bella, and Edward, mistakenly believing Bella to be dead, tries to get a group of Italian vampires to kill him. The new film added Michael Sheen and Dakota Fanning as two of the Italian vampires, but critics were mostly bored silly. Teen girls didn't care, as they turned out in droves on opening weekend, as New Moon opened to an amazing $142.8 million. The audiences rapidly disappeared after that, but the film still broke dawn with $296.6 million. Opening well back in #2--for now--was the family drama The Blind Side. Based on a true story, Sandra Bullock played the matriarch of a rich Memphis family who takes in Michael Oher, a homeless classmate of their daughter's. Luckily, it turned out he's a football savant. The film received largely mixed reviews, including from the real Michael Oher, who complained that he wasn't quite the simple-minded football newbie that the film portrayed him to be. Audiences didn't seem to care much. Even with New Moon sucking up much of the weekend's box office, there was enough for Blind Side to open to $34.1 million, and unlike the sparkly vampires, it just kept on going, playing strongly throughout the holidays and into January. Eventually, it would earn a Best Picture nomination, and Bullock would win the Best Actress Oscar. By the time the final buzzer sounded, The Blind Side had grossed $256 million. 2012 came in third, and opening in fourth was the animated sci-fi comedy Planet 51, about a human astronaut (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) who lands on what he thinks is an uninhabited planet, only to discover a thriving civilization of green alien creatures living lifestyles reminiscent of Americans, who think the Earthling is there to conquer them. Critics were not kind to the film, but with no Disney competition this year until mid-December, the film did OK business, taking off with $12.3 million and splashing down with $42.2 million.
Fifteen Years Ago--November 19, 2009: A year and a half after Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code became a runaway bestseller, and a year and a half before Ron Howard's movie The Da Vinci Code became a smash hit, Disney released its own American history-centered spin on ancient conspiracies revealed via cryptic clues hiding in plain sight. National Treasure starred Nicholas Cage as a historian who believes that the Founding Fathers hid a giant treasure somewhere on the East Coast. When he discovers that the next clue is secretly on the back of the Declaration of Independence, he breaks in and steals it from the National Archive to keep it out of the hands of his former employer (Sean Bean) who wants the treasure for himself. All this is rather silly stuff, and despite a solid cast, including Jon Voight as Cage's skeptical father, Diane Kruger as the National Archive employee who unwittingly gets caught up in the scheme, and Harvey Keitel as a sympathetic FBI agent, critics didn't like it much. No matter, as the film proved to be a huge hit, opening to $35.1 million and finding its own treasure of $173 million, which earned it a sequel in 2007. Opening well in second was The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie. A feature version of what was then by far the most popular kids show on TV (and, in 2019, might still be the most popular kids show on TV), the plot sends SpongeBob and Patrick on a quest to retrieve King Neptune's crown, where much silliness occurs. Critics were surprisingly kind to the film, which opened to $32 million. However, it ended up having little staying power, and returned to the pineapple under the sea with $85.4 million.
Twenty Years Ago--November 19, 1999: James Bond Returned (officially) for the 19th time, and Pierce Brosnan Returned as James Bond for the third time in The World is Not Enough. This time, Bond is charged with protected the daughter (Sophie Marceau) of a recently assassinated oil baron from a terrorist (Robert Carlyle) who had previously kidnapped her and had been responsible for her father's death. When Bond realizes that the terrorist is stealing plutonium, he teams up with nuclear scientist Dr. Christmas Jones (Denise Richards) to stop him and his secret partner. Critics had largely given a pass to the first two Brosnan Bond movies, but were underwhelmed by this one, especially with the casting of Richards as a scientist. Audiences, however, enjoyed the film, as it topped the openings of both GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies, finishing at #1 with $35.5 million. It would end up slightly outgrossing Tomorrow, shaking (but not stirring) up a final gross of $126.9 million. In second was Sleepy Hollow, Tim Burton's very, very loose adaption of Washington Irving's classic story, that re-imagines Ichabod Crane as a forensic detective in 1799 New York, rather than the local schoolteacher that he was in the story. Also, instead of the Headless Horseman being strongly hinted at as his rival for a girl's affection, in this one, he really is a vengeful ghost, seemingly killing people at random in the titular hamlet. Of course there is a method to the madness, and it's up to Crane and the daughter of the local rich businessman (Christina Ricci) to solve the mystery before its too late. Hollow was well received by critics, and ultimately earned three Oscar nominations, winning for its art direction. The film opened to $30.1 million and would lose its head after taking in $101.1 million. Reaching the Top 10 for the first time was Being John Malkovich, in tenth. Opening on one screen--but still managing to earn over $300,000 for the weekend, was Toy Story 2. Pixar's third movie (and first sequel) saw Woody (Tom Hanks) get kidnapped by a toy store owner who hopes to sell him to a museum in Japan. Meanwhile, Buzz (Tim Allen) attempted a rescue mission. Reviews were almost unanimously positive, and the film would go on get an Oscar nomination for its heartbreaking song "When She Loved Me". Moviegoers were positive as well, as the story wasn't over until it took in $242.9 million, good enough to be 1999's third-highest-grossing movie.
Twenty-Five Years Ago--November 25, 1994: Just in time for Thanksgiving, The Santa Clause rose to #1 in its third weekend, with Star Trek: Generations and Interview With the Vampire coming in second and third. The best any of the holiday weekend newcomers could do was 4th, which is where Junior arrived. An ill-fated attempt by the director and stars of Twins to recreate the magic of that comedy with another outlandish premise, Junior starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito as scientists who lose their funding. In order to find another source, DeVito convinces Schwarzenegger to try the drug on himself. The drug is to prevent miscarriages, which means Schwarzenegger has to get pregnant. Emma Thompson, in her first big-budgeted American movie, played the fertility research scientist who just happens to have a supply of human eggs conveniently on hand for Schwarzenegger to borrow, and Frank Langella plays the evil university dean who keeps sniffing around. Critics were largely negative toward the comedy, and audiences decided that the poster was all the pregnant Schwarzenegger they needed. Junior would end up being one of the holiday season's bigger disappointments, opening to $13.4 million over the long weekend, and ultimately delivering only $36.8 million. It did get an Oscar nomination for the sappy ballad "Look What Love Has Done", though. After his first movie, the blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka became a minor hit in 1988, director and star Keenen Ivory Wayans turned his attention to television, creating the groundbreaking sketch comedy show In Living Color. With that show having concluded by 1994, Wayans returned to feature films with the action comedy A Low Down Dirty Shame. Wayans played Andre Shame, a former cop-turned-private eye after an incident involving a drug kingpin went bad. After learning the kingpin, who was presumed killed, is still alive, he tries to bring in the kingpin's former girlfriend to testify. Jada Pinkett played Wayans eccentric assistant. Critics were not fans of the movie, which got across-the-board bad reviews. The film was low-budgeted enough, however, that it could be seen as another minor hit. It opened to $11.4 million over the long weekend, and would end with a not-too-shameful $29.4 million. After The Lion King and Stargate came the third family flop in two weeks. The Pagemaster was a animation/live action hybrid starring Macaulay Culkin as a nerdy kid scared of everything who takes refuge during a storm at the local library. When the librarian (Christopher Lloyd) gives him a special library card, he finds himself in an animated adventure, fighting the public domain monsters and villains of literature with the help of three walking, talking books. One interesting (maybe the only interesting) thing about the film was the number of Star Trek vets in the cast. In addition to Lloyd (who was in Star Trek III), Patrick Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg, and Leonard Nimoy all provided voices. Critics liked the not-subtle-at-all paean to the power of reading and not much else, and audiences decided they'd much rather see Stewart and Goldberg in the flesh in Generations. The Pagemaster took in $5.1 million over the long weekend, and had the book closed on it at $13.7 million.
Thirty Years Ago--November 24, 1989: After the avalanche of new releases the weekend before, only one new film went out over Thanksgiving, but it was a doozy, coming in with the fourth-best Friday-Sunday opening weekend of 1989, even though it had opened on Wednesday. Back to the Future Part II sent Marty (Michael J, Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd) bouncing around over a 60-year time span, moving from 1985 at the very beginning of the film to 2015, to an alternate 1985 where
Thirty-Five Years Ago--November 23, 1984: It's a bird! It's a plane! It's one of the biggest flops of 1984! Crashing and burning over Thanksgiving was Supergirl, the very expensive spin-off of the blockbuster Superman movies, with Helen Slater, in her film debut, as Clark Kent's cousin Linda, who is really Kara Zor-El, who is really Supergirl. She arrives on Earth searching for a powerful MacGuffin that has fallen into the hands of a witch (Faye Dunaway) who uses her newfound powers to...get a guy to fall in love with her. Peter O'Toole played the Kryptonian responsible for losing the MacGuffin in the first place. Critics trashed the film, and audiences didn't bother turning out, as it opened to $7.8 million over the long Thanksgiving weekend, which is barely more than the much cheaper Missing in Action made the weekend before. Supergirl would end with a kryptonite-like $14.3 million, though Slater at least had a respectable career after it, and in a nice nod, plays Supergirl's mother on the current CW series. Rounding out the Top 5 were holdovers Missing in Action, The Terminator, Oh God! You Devil, and Night of the Comet. Opening in 6th, flopping in its own way as badly as Supergirl, was Falling in Love. This romantic drama cast Robert DeNiro and Meryl Streep, who between them had four Oscars, as two people married to others who meet by chance and...well, its right there in the title. Despite the star power (the cast also included Harvey Keitel and Dianne Wiest, who would win two Oscars of her own), critics largely panned the film. Love was released only semi-wide, so it had a good per-screen average that weekend, opening to $3.1 million over the five-day holiday, but never gained much traction after that, only grossing $11.1 million.
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