Disney's 'Encanto' Tops Box Office For Second Consecutive Week

The Walt Disney Co.’s DIS animated feature “Encanto” maintained its top position at the U.S. box office for a second consecutive week, but the surprise at the theaters over the weekend was the appearance of a pair of under-the-radar releases in the top 10 list of highest grossing films.

What Happened: “Encanto” brought in $12.7 million from 3,980 theaters over a weekend that was conspicuously absent of major new Hollywood releases. Sony Pictures’ SONY “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” ranked second with $10.3 million from 4,059 in its third week of release – the film has totaled $102.2 million in U.S. ticket sales during its domestic theatrical run. “House of Gucci” from MGM-United Artists Releasing ranked third with $6.7 million from 3,477 in its second week of release.

But two smaller films that were not predicted to be box office hits connected with audiences over the weekend. The faith-based “Christmas with the Chosen: The Messengers” from Fathom Entertainment, which retells the story of the Nativity mixed with contemporary Christian music, grossed $4.1 million in 1,642 theaters over Friday through Sunday – the film opened Dec. 1 and its five-day ticket sales total was $9 million.

And placing tenth in the top 10 was the anime feature “Sword Art Online Progressive” from Funimation, which grossed $1.05 million in an 840-theater release.

What Happens Next: The coming weekend offers a slate of highly-anticipated films, including two major releases with a 1950s vibe: Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of the musical classic “West Side Story” from Disney’s 20th Century Studios and Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem as Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in “Being the Ricardos” from Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN Amazon Studios. More star power is on display in Adam McKay’s apocalyptic comedy “Don’t Look Up” from Netflix NFLX featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill and Ariana Grande.

Additional films coming to theaters include the college football drama “National Champions” from STX Entertainment starring Stephan James and Lil Rel Howery, the Western “The Last Son” from Redbox Entertainment RDBX starring Sam Worthington and Machine Gun Kelly, and Screen Media Films' British-based comedy-drama “Off the Rails” starring Judi Dench, Jenny Seagrove and the late Kelly Preston in her last film.

Also Happening: “Minamata,” a biopic starring Johnny Depp as Eugene Smith, the Life magazine photographer who called the world’s attention in the early 1970s to the mercury poisoning of Japanese communities created by the Chisso Corporation’s dumping of chemicals into local waterways, is finally getting a U.S. release nearly two years after its world premiere.

According to a Deadline report, Samuel Goldwyn Films acquired the rights to “Minamata” from MGM, which picked up the film after its February 2020 debut at the Berlin Film Festival. Although the film has played in multiple markets around the world, MGM stalled its U.S. release.

Both Depp, who co-produced the film, and director Andrew Levitas accused MGM of refusing to make “Minamata” available to U.S. audiences because of Depp’s off-screen controversy involving his ex-wife Amber Heard, who accused him of abusive behavior. “Minamata” will open in limited release on Dec. 15 for award consideration before going into a wider distribution in 2022.

Photo: "Encanto," courtesy of Disney