‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ Launches At No. 1; ‘Grinch’ Is Strong At No. 3

Ralph Breaks the Internet, from Walt Disney Animation Studios, launched in first place at the U.S. box office over the Thanksgiving extended holiday weekend.

Directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, the Wreck-It Ralph sequel pulled in an estimated $55.6 million over the weekend, and $84.4 million over the five-day holiday period. The original launched with $49 million on a non-holiday weekend in 2012, which adjusted for inflation, is identical to this sequel’s weekend gross.

Disney has launched a lot of animation over the Thanksgiving weekend in recent years. It had Disney-Pixar’s Coco ($72.9m over the 5-day) in 2017, Moana ($82m) in 2016, and Frozen ($93.9m) in 2013.

Interesting note on attendance: the opening audience of Wreck-It Ralph skewed male, garnering 55% male viewers to 45% female, while this sequel flipped that around, playing to 51% female and 49% male.

Internationally, Ralph Breaks the Internet is also off to a hot start, launching nearly 3x better than the original. In foreign markets, the film has already picked up $41.5 million from 18 territories, led by China with an estimated $19.5 million opening. The original was not a massive hit abroad, earning only $281.8m from overseas, so there is a lot of room to grow with this sequel.

Notably, Universal-Illumination’s The Grinch picked up the no. 3 spot at the U.S. box office, with a powerful $30.2m over the weekend, and $42m over the Wednesday-Sunday holiday. Keep in mind, these are estimates, and it’s in a tight race for third with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, so there is a possibility that it will slip to fourth when the final numbers are released, but whichever position it ends up, it’s a very strong performance. The film dipped just 22% from last weekend, and has accrued $180.4m in its first three weeks. Internationally, the film has delivered $35.3m for a global total of $215.7m.