Susan Sarandon plays Queen Narissa in Disney's 'Enchanted'. - contributed
LOS ANGELES (AP):
Audiences fell under the spell of Enchanted, a fairy-tale romance that debuted as the number one movie and led Hollywood out of its recent box-office doldrums with solid business over the Thanksgiving holiday.
Starring Amy Adams as a cartoon princess exiled to real-world Manhattan by her fiancé's wicked stepmother (Susan Sarandon), Disney's Enchanted took in US$35.3 million on the weekend and U$50.05 million since debuting Wednesday, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Sony Screen Gems' family reunion holiday tale This Christmas, whose ensemble cast includes Delroy Lindo, Regina King, Mekhi Phifer and Idris Elba, opened at number two with US$18.6 million for the weekend and US$27.1 million since Wednesday.
Hollywood had been in a box-office funk this fall, but the two movies paced the industry to a healthy Thanksgiving, with the top-12 movies pulling in US$218.1 million from Wednesday to Sunday, up six per cent from the holiday period last year.
"That's good for an industry that's been in a downtrend for almost two months," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers.
Key weekend
"Thanksgiving sets the tone for the rest of the year and the holiday season in general. This was a key weekend, and it delivered."
Enchanted had the second-best five-day Thanksgiving debut ever, behind the US$80.1 million haul of Disney's Toy Story 2. Disney released all five of the top-grossing movie debuts over Thanksgiving, with Unbreakable, A Bug's Life and 101 Dalmatians trailing Toy Story 2 and Enchanted.
"It's a really good place to launch a movie," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney. "When you get a movie as strong and well-playing as this, it bodes well for us right through the Christmas holiday."
