Sometimes the Universe speaks to us:
“Frozen II,” Disney’s juggernaut sequel to “Frozen I,” would have hit $300 million today, Sunday, with no trouble. Would have. But winter storms have made Disney cut its Sunday box office prediction so that the movie’s total, through tonight, is only $287.5 million.
Disney says its Sunday take will be about half of what it might have had, just $18.5 million. On Friday and Saturday, the box office was $34 and $32 million respectively. One more day like that and “Frozen II” would have melted the $300 million mark.
So they’ll have to wait a couple more days. It’s ok. Disney has too much money now, as it is. All their old box office numbers look very Mickey Mouse.
On the live action side, Disney can also crow about “Ford v Ferrari,” now at $81 million. It’s their first hit from the 20th Century Fox acquisition. James Mangold’s race car saga is probably looking at Oscar nomination, as well.
The other big hits from the weekend were Lions Gate’s “Knives Out,” starring Daniel Craig. In 5 days they’ve made $41 million, and are heading to a very swell $100 mil. Also, a nice little hit for Universal is “Queen and Slim,” with $15 million. A low budget romance and social horror film, aimed at the African American audience, and written by Lena Waithe, “Queen and Slim” stars “Get Out” actor Daniel Kaluuya. The movie found its audience instantly, and could be a break out hit a la “Get Out.” Bravo!
“Queen and Slim” isn’t the only black-audience focused film to do well. “Harriet,” with its Oscar buzzed performance from Cynthia Erivo, will hit $40 million tomorrow. Interesting that both films are from Universal (“Harriet” is Universal Focus). They get it. Movies must be inclusive.
