A Thanksgiving hangover! Moana sails clear of rivals as it again tops US box office... but theatres suffer quiet post-holiday weekend

By Mike Larkin For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:33 EST, 4 December 2016 | Updated: 03:15 EST, 5 December 2016

It is not unusual to suffer a hangover after Thanksgiving.

And that is just what happened at the North American box office as Disney film Moana topped the charts for the second week in a row.

The animated film, in which the daughter of a Polynesian island chief battles to save her people with the help of a powerful demigod, sailed well clear of its rivals after bringing in $28.4 million.

Plain sailing: Disney film Moana topped the charts for the second week in a row 

However this was a massive drop on the previous weekend for the Dwayne Johnson led film, when it topped the charts after making an impressive $81.1 million. Overall it has now made $119.9 million.

Making a splash: But Moana's $28.4 million take was not enough to prevent a drop in performance on the same weekend last year

Its closest competitor was Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, which finished far behind on $18.5 million.

While business was slow, Paul Dergarabedian of box office tracker comScore insisted the post-Thanksgiving weekend tends to be bad time for theatres. 

The media analyst said: 'The Thanksgiving holiday is a long, extended binge of eating food and watching lots of movies, and then this weekend is the diet.

'It is somewhat typical. It's like we're taking a quick breather before the homestretch.'

However the commercial performance this weekend was even worse than last year, and it is expected to be down about 3 per cent when final figures come in.

Paramount's Amy Adams-led science fiction film Arrival ended up in third place after making $7.3 million, 

Wand-erful news: Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them was second

Not-so-grand Arrival: The Amy Adams-led science fiction made just $7.3 million

The studio's Second World War spy thriller Allied, most famous for Angelina Jolie's alleged jealousy over star Brad Pitt's leading placed lady Marion Cottilard, was fourth after earning just $7.1 million.

Meanwhile Disney raked in even more cash with Doctor Strange, which earned $6.5 million, which increased its total domestic take to $215.3 million.

The weekend's only new widely released opener was micro-budget horror film Incarnate, and it still managed to fell short of expectations in taking just $2.6 million.

Jacqueline Kennedy biopic Jackie, which is drawing awards buzz for star Natalie Portman, had an extremely limited release, earning $275,000 from five theaters. 

Nothing to be jealous about: The Marion Cottilard and Brad Pitt-led Second World War spy thriller Allied earned just $7.1 million

Box office magic: Fifth-placed Doctor Strange has now made $215.3 million at US theatres

While the overall box office for the year remains up by around 4 per cent so far, it is far from certain it will improve on last year's record haul of $11.14 billion.

The 2015 boom was partially fuelled by the release of partially Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which raked in a mammoth $652 million in the final fortnight of the year

It seems unlikely Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will make anywhere near the same amount, though Disney executives will doubtlessly be hoping audiences are eager for yet more product from the universe, especially as they are planning to saturate the market in the coming years.

ComScore analyst Dergarabedian said: 'It's going to be a tight race' 

 

 

 

 

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