Walt Disney Studios Animation opened their latest animated movie, the superhero action-adventure Big Hero 6, in 3,761 theaters on Thursday night. After grossing an estimated $15.8 million on Friday, it had a strong Saturday bump from family business to bring its weekend total to an estimated $56.2 million. With an “A” CinemaScore, the movie should continue to do well between now and Thanksgiving. Big Hero 6 added another $7.6 million in 17 international markets in its third weekend overseas bringing its total outside North America to $23 million.
Going to the number two spot, Christopher Nolan’s anticipated outer space epic Interstellar (Paramount), starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine and more, opened on Wednesday in select theaters that had film projection capabilities including 70mm IMAX (249 theaters total) where it grossed $2.1 million in advance of its nationwide expansion Thursday night. It ended up with an estimated $50 million over the weekend in 3,561 theaters, averaging $14 thousand per location compared to Big Hero 6’s $15 thousand.
Ouija is proving difficult to dislodge from the top 5. The Halloween horror flick dropped to the No. 4 spot in its third weekend. A great run for a movie with C CinemaScore to still gross $6 million this weekend. Only $100,000 behind the more critically beloved Gone Girl.
St. Vincent, the comedy-drama starring Bill Murray as a grumpy older man, broke into the top 5 in its fifth week, with $5.7 million.
1. Big Hero 6 – $56.2 million
2. Interstellar – $50 million
3. Gone Girl – $6.1 million
4. Ouija – $6 million
5. St. Vincent – $5.7 million
