One interesting quirk about the Thanksgiving weekend box office is that, while massive blockbusters have rolled out the day before the holiday for years, the #1 movie over the long weekend is usually the holdover #1 movie from the previous weekend. A quirk about the following weekend (the first weekend of December) is that, despite being in the middle of the holiday movie season, it's almost always a dead zone, especially the last fifteen years.
One Year Ago--November 29, 2019:
#1 Movie:
Frozen II--$86 million
New Wide Releases:
Knives Out--2/$26.8 million/$165.4 million/15/97%/82--The death of bestselling mystery novelist Christopher Plummer appears to be a suicide, but as it turns out, just about everyone in his family (including Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Chris Evans) had a good reason for wanting him dead, which is why someone hired famed detective Daniel Craig to investigate. Maybe Plummer's loyal nurse (Ana de Armas) knows more than she's letting on? LaKeith Stanfield played a cop assisting in the investigation, M. Emmet Walsh played a security guard, and Frank Oz played the family's attorney. Critics fell over themselves praising the old-fashioned whodunit with very up-to-date things to say about class and inherited wealth and the treatment of immigrants, and audiences turned this into the sleeper smash of the holiday season. It would be Oscar-nominated for its Original Screenplay.
Director: Rian Johnson
Queen & Slim--4/$11.9 million/$43.8 million/64/82%/74--A couple (Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith) on a blind date is forced to go on the run together when an encounter with a cop goes horrifically wrong, in this drama that, if anything, is more timely now than it was a year ago. They receive help from sympathetic people (mostly African-American) while trying to avoid increasingly bloodthirsty law enforcement, as they try to escape the country. Bokeem Woodbine played Turner-Smith's uncle, and Flea and Chloe Sevigny play friends of Kaluuya who help them hide out. Critics were mostly kind to it, and it became a minor hit.
Director: Melina Matsoukas
New Limited Releases:
The Two Popes--NA/NA/89%/75--In 2012, Buenos Aires archbishop Jorge Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) travels to Rome to submit his resignation directly to Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, the two spend several days discussing the role of the Church in the modern world while the pope tries to talk the archbishop out of resigning while revealing his own shocking plans for the near future. Critics gave rave reviews to the Netflix drama, which had a brief theatrical run before hitting the streamer shortly before Christmas. Even though the two actors had near-equal amounts of screen time, Pryce would be nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars, while Hopkins would be nominated for Supporting Actor. The Adapted Screenplay would also be nominated.
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Five Years Ago--November 27, 2015:
#1 Movie:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2--$52 million
New Wide Releases:
The Good Dinosaur--2/$39.2 million/$123.1 million/26/76%/66--Arguably Pixar's most troubled movie, this comedic adventure, set in a world where the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs never hit the Earth, followed a young Apatosaurus, who, after being swept away by a flash flood, reluctantly joins forces with a young human boy in order to get back home. Among the voice cast was Sam Elliott as a friendly T. Rex, Anna Paquin as his daughter, Jeffrey Wright and Frances McDormand as the young dinosaur's parents, Steve Zahn as a villainous pterodactyl, and Pixar regular John Ratzenburger as a velociraptor. The film was delayed nearly a year and a half to revise the script (and to replace most of the original voice cast), and when it did finally open, it got outgrossed by The Peanuts Movie and ended up the lowest-grossing Pixar movie ever.
Director: Peter Sohn
Creed--3/$29.6 million/$109.8 million/29/95%/82--The dormant Rocky franchise, whose last entry, Rocky Balboa, had opened in 2006, was successfully revived, with the focus switching to Apollo Creed's son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan), who dreams of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a professional boxer. He travels to Philadelphia to recruit Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) to be his trainer, even though Rocky is in poor health. Tessa Thompson played Jordan's love interest and Phylicia Rashad played his stepmother. Critics gave the new film glowing reviews, and, like Rocky Balboa nine years earlier, the film became a sleeper hit. Stallone, who was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars for the original film, received a Supporting Actor nomination this time around. It was followed by Creed II in 2018.
Director: Ryan Coogler
Victor Frankenstein--12/$2.5 million/$5.8 million/146/26%/36--Audiences largely ignored this upteenth retelling of the Frankenstein story, which this time is from the viewpoint of Igor (Daniel Radcliffe), who happily assists Victor (James McAvoy) with his experiments to resurrect the dead, despite having serious misgivings about the work. Charles Dance played Victor's disapproving father. Like so many November horror films. this one might have been better off opening a month earlier, around Halloween.
Director: Paul McGuigan
New Limited Releases:
Tamasha--$2.1 million/182/63%/NA--In this Indian romantic comedy-drama, a man (Ranbir Kapoor) and a woman (Deepika Padukone) meet and fall for each other on vacation, but part at the end of the trip. When they meet again several years later, they try to form a relationship, but his personality has changed. The film was well-reviewed, but not a breakout hit.
Director: Imtiaz Ali
The Danish Girl--$11.1 million/124/67%/66--Eddie Redmayne followed his Oscar-winning role as Stephen Hawking with another fictionalized biopic, this time playing Lili Elbe, a Danish painter who was one of the first transgendered women to undergo sex reassignment surgery in 1930. Alicia Vikander played her wife, Gerda Wegener, a prominent artist in her own right, who stuck by her husband-turned-wife as she began the transition process. Supporting roles were played by Amber Heard and Ben Whishaw. The drama got somewhat mixed reviews, but still scored 4 Oscar nominations, with Redmayne earning his second consecutive Best Actor nomination, with the Costumes and Production Design also being nominated. Vikander would win Supporting Actress.
Director: Tom Hooper
Expanding:
Brooklyn--9/$4 million
Ten Years Ago--November 26, 2010:
#1 Movie:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1--$49.1 million
New Wide Releases:
Tangled--2/$48.8 million/$200.8 million/10/89%/71--Disney recovered nicely from the disappointment of The Princess and the Frog the previous year with this adaption of Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), who in this version spends her life imprisoned in a tower by the woman she thinks is her mother (Donna Murphy). When said tower is invaded by a charismatic thief (Zachary Levi), she convinces him to help her escape and see the world, where they have to avoid his former partners, the royal guard, and her "mother", who has her own nefarious reasons for keeping her prisoner. Among the voices of the various thugs after Levi were Ron Perlman, M.C. Gainey, Jeffrey Tambour, and Brad Garrett. While the film was a critical success (though it was surprisingly left of of the Animated Feature race at the Oscars, only ending up with a single nomination for its Original Song "I See the Light"), its biggest impact was the box office, where it was the best-performing Disney Feature Animation title since The Lion King 16 years prior. As Disney Feature Animation had not only been passed by stablemate Pixar, but by DreamWorks Animation, this sparked what could be considered a second Disney Renaissance over the next decade.
Director: Nathan Greno and Byron Howard
Burlesque--4/$12 million/$39.4 million/79/37%/47--In the rare mainstream studio movie seemingly made exclusively for gay men, Christina Aguilera played, for the first and so far only time, a character other than herself in a theatrically-released feature film. She played a young woman from Iowa who heads to L.A. expecting to become a star, and finds it's a tough struggle that takes about three weeks. She wanders into Cher's burlesque club, finagles a job, and in short order goes from waitress to performer to headliner. She then has to choose between the hunky, good-hearted, but poor bartender (Cam Gigandet) and the hunky, rich, but sleazy land developer (Eric Dane), who might have designs on Cher's struggling club. Stanley Tucci played the club's manager, Peter Gallagher played Cher's ex-husband, Alan Cumming played the doorman, and Julianne Hough and Kirsten Bell played dancers. Despite the sparkling cast, critics found it ridiculous, and the box office was rather mediocre, which might explain why Cher didn't take another onscreen acting role until Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again in 2018.
Director: Steve Antin
Love & Other Drugs--6/$9.7 million/$32.4 million/90/49%/55--In this romcomdram that is mostly remembered for the frequent nudity of the two leads, Jake Gyllenhaal played a hotshot pharmaceutical rep in the late 90s who begins a casual sexual relationship with Parkinson's patient Anne Hathaway. As the two become closer and find themselves experiencing love for the first time, they try to figure out if their relationship can survive her illness and his career ambitions, particularly as he gets assigned the brand new drug Viagra to push. Oliver Platt played Gyllenhaal's boss, Hank Azaria played Hathaway's doctor, Josh Gad played Gyllenhaal's brother, Judy Greer played Azaria's office manager, and George Segal and Jill Clayburgh (in her next-to-last role, as she had died shortly before the film's release) as Gyllenhaal's parents. This was a change of pace for director Edward Zwick, as he was mostly known for expensive epics.
Director: Edward Zwick
Faster--7/$8.5 million/$23.2 million/110/42%/44--Not even Dwayne Johnson could get audiences interested in this thriller, in which he played a former convict tracking down and killing everyone involved in his brother's death. Billy Bob Thornton and Carla Gugino played cops on Johnson's trail, Tom Berenger played the prison warden, Mike Epps played a former associate of Johnson's, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje played one of the people on Johnson's hit list.
Director: George Tillman, Jr.
New Limited Releases:
The King's Speech--$135.5 million/18/94%/88--Prince Albert (Colin Firth), second in line to the British throne in the 1930s, detested public speaking because of his stammer. On the advice of his wife (Helena Bonham Carter), he began sessions with an Australian speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush), which proved fortunate when, after the death of his father (Michael Gambon) and the abdication of his elder brother (Guy Pearce), he ascended the throne as King George VI, right as tensions with Germany were beginning to make war inevitable. Timothy Spall (who, along with Carter and Gambon, were also busy fighting in the wizarding wars in multiplexes nationwide) played Winston Churchill, Derek Jacobi played the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Claire Bloom played Firth's mother. The film became both an unexpected commercial smash and a critical darling, ultimately earning 12 Oscar nominations, including Supporting Actor for Rush, Supporting Actress for Carter, Cinematography, Film Editing, Costumes, Score, Sound Mixing, and Art Direction, and winning four, including Original Screenplay, Director for Tom Hooper, Actor for Firth, and Picture. The total earned is for the R-rated version only. After the Oscars, the Weinstein Company would release a PG-13 version that edited out a few of the muttered profanities that got the film the harder rating. That version would make less than $4 million.
Director: Tom Hooper
Fifteen Years Ago--December 2, 2005:
#1 Movie:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire--$19.9 million
New Wide Releases:
Aeon Flux--2/$12.7 million/$25.9 million/99/9%/36--To date, the last big-budgeted movie released the first weekend of December, this live-action adaption of the cult MTV sci-fi animated series starred Charlize Theron as the titular character, an undercover assassin trying to bring down the leader (Marton Csokas) of the walled city where the survivors of humanity live, only to discover she's a pawn in a large-reaching conspiracy. Frances McDormand, who co-starred with Theron earlier that fall in North Country, played the leader of the rebels, Jonny Lee Miller played Csokas's brother, Pete Postlethwaite played a man who knew all the secrets, and Sophie Okonedo played Theron's colleague. Given the dismal track record of this weekend, its no surprise that studios would largely abandon this date to low-budget fare and dumps.
Director: Karyn Kusama
New Limited Releases:
Transamerica--$9 million/149/77%/66--Felicity Huffman played a trans woman who, shortly before her surgery, has to fly cross-country to bail out the son (Kevin Zegers), whom she fathered when still presenting as a male, that she didn't know she had. When an attempt to take him to his stepfather falls through, she decides to take him back to Los Angeles, without revealing she's trans or his father. Graham Greene played a friendly truck driver, Fionnula Flanagan and Burt Young played Huffman's parents, Carrie Preston her sister, and Elizabeth Pena her therapist. Critics generally liked the film, but nearly everyone praised Huffman's performance, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. The film's Original Song "Travelin' Thru", written and performed by Dolly Parton, was also nominated.
Director: Duncan Tucker
Twenty Years Ago--December 1, 2000:
#1 Movie:
How the Grinch Stole Christmas--$27.1 million
Twenty-Five Years Ago--December 1, 1995:
#1 Movie:
Toy Story--$20.2 million
New Wide Releases:
White Man's Burden--8/$1.7 million/$3.7 million/160/24%/NA--While nearly everything John Travolta appeared in after Pulp Fiction to Battlefield Earth was a commercial--or at least a critical--success, he did have a few misfires. This drama, taking place in a world in which the usual positions of Blacks and whites is reversed, is easily his biggest during that era. Travolta played a poor factory employee who is unjustly fired by the company's racist CEO (Harry Belafonte, appearing in his first major film role since 1974). When he is unable to find another job, Travolta kidnaps Belafonte to show him what life was truly like for the oppressed white minority. Kelly Lynch played Travolta's wife, and Margaret Avery played Belafonte's wife. Critics were confused as to just what message the movie was trying to send, and despite Travolta's presence, audiences completely ignored it.
Director: Desmond Nakano
New Limited Releases:
Wild Bill--$2.2 million/182/44%/NA--This rather dour western biopic starred Jeff Bridges as Wild Bill Hickok, the legendary gunslinger and lawman whose actual exploits are probably dwarfed by the stories about him. The film, mostly told in flashback, recrates Bill's life leading up to his final poker game in Deadwood, South Dakota, where he was killed by Jack McCall (David Arquette), whose motivations were largely fictionalized in the movie. Ellen Barkin played Calamity Jane, Bill's friend and occasional lover, John Hurt played another friend of Bill's, Keith Carradine played Buffalo Bill Cody, Christine Applegate played a prostitute, Bruce Dern played an old rival, and Diane Lane played Arquette's mother, a former romantic interest of Bill's. Despite the good cast, this didn't get the reviews needed to sustain interest from the Oscars or from audiences.
Director: Walter Hill
Thirty Years Ago--November 30, 1990:
#1 Movie:
Home Alone--$14.4 million
New Wide Releases:
Misery--2/$10.1 million/$61.3 million/19/90%/75--A romance novelist (James Caan) hoping to break into a different genre, gets into a car accident during a blizzard, and is rescued by his self-proclaimed "#1 fan" (Kathy Bates), a former nurse, who takes him back to her isolated, telephoneless home to recover from his injuries. It doesn't take Caan long to realize he really needs to stay on Bates's good side, especially after she discovers the tragic fate of her favorite character in Caan's latest novel. This thriller made a star out of previously little-known character actress Bates and was a comeback role for Caan (who, like Bates, had been in that summer's Dick Tracy, though the two didn't share any scenes). Richard Farnsworth played the local sheriff, Francis Sternhagen played his wife, Lauren Bacall played Caan's agent, and J.T. Walsh appeared uncredited as a state trooper. This would be Rob Reiner's second major success, after 1986's Stand By Me, in adapting a Stephen King story without any supernatural elements in it. Bates would win the Oscar for Best Actress.
Director: Rob Reiner
Thirty-Five Years Ago--November 29, 1985:
New Wide Releases:
Rocky IV--1/$20 million/$127.9 million/3/40%/40--Sylvester Stallone had his second smash sequel of the year in a film that equals the "America, Fuck Yeah" attitude of Rambo: First Blood, Part II. Here, Rocky Balboa challenges a fearsome Soviet fighter (Dolph Lundgren) after he kills Rocky's mentor Apollo (Carl Weathers) in the ring. Talia Shire and Burt Young return as Rocky's wife and brother-in-law, respectively, and Stallone's future ex-wife Brigitte Nielsen played Lundgren's wife. Including the two Creed movies (the second one of which dealt with the events of this film), there would be four more sequels over the next 3 and a half decades.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Santa Claus: The Movie--2/$5.7 million/$23.7 million/39/20%/NA--This big-budgeted family outing told the life and adventures of Santa Claus (David Huddleston) before he started comin' to town. In the 20th century, the attempt by one of his elves (Dudley Moore) to use technology to make toys more efficiently backfires, so Moore heads to America, where he naively teams up with an unscrupulous toymaker (John Lithgow) who dreams of replacing Santa as the symbol of Christmas. Rocky vet Burgess Meredith played the head elf. Critics were savage toward the film, whose storyline bore more than a passing resemblance to the plot of the first Superman movie, from the same producing team, and audiences largely ignored it in favor of Rocky (its first weekend barely outgrossed competing Christmas movie One Magic Christmas).
Director: Jeannot Szwarc
Forty Years Ago--November 28, 1980:
New Limited Releases:
The Billion Dollar Hobo--NA/NA/NA/NA--Apparently, Hollywood hadn't figured out that people like going to the movies over Thanksgiving yet, because the only film to get any sort of nationwide release was a return, matinee-only engagement of this largely forgotten 1977 kiddie comedy starring Tim Conway as the heir to his uncle's vast fortune, only he has to live as a hobo before he can get the money. Hijinks ensure. Somehow, this is not a Disney comedy. Luckily, Hollywood had figured out that people like going to movies over Christmas, so a number of notable films were waiting in the wings for December.
Director: Stuart McGowan
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