娱乐英语新闻:Disney's "Moana" debuts to 81.1 mln USD in Thanksgiving box office

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Disney's animated film "Moana" hits weekend box office in North America with over 80 million U.S. dollars.

The animated adventure "Moana" debuted to be number one with an estimated 81.1 million dollars in ticket sales in the five-day holiday weekend period in the United States and Canada.

The five-day revenue of "Moana" makes it to be the second largest Thanksgiving debut ever in America behind Disney's "Frozen" (93.6 million dollars in five-day) and just ahead of "Toy Story 2" (80.1 million in five-day).

According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, Disney now owns nine of the top ten five-day and three-day Thanksgiving weekend openings.

"Moana"'s demographic breakdown was 45 percent male vs. 55 percent female. About 34 percent of the audience was 12 years old or under, 43 percent over the age of 25 and 72 percent of the audience made up of families.

First-night moviegoers gave the film an "A" on CinemaScore and critics gave it a solid good 98 percent approval rate.

Outside North America, "Moana" grossed 16.3 million dollars, including an estimated 12.3 million dollars in China, where it opened on Nov. 25. For a global opening totaling, "Moana" got over 97.4 million dollars.

The Harry Potter franchise remained strong, with "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" predicted to be above 473.7 million dollars in worldwide sales, with 65.8 million dollars over the five-day holiday in north America. It has amassed 156.2 million dollars over two weeks in the United States and Canada.

Additionally, the film grossed 132 million dollars globally this weekend, fueled by openings in China and Japan where it brought in an estimated of 41.1 million dollars and 15.5 million dollars respectively.

Benedict Cumberbatch's "Doctor Strange" finished in third showing its strong sales in its fourth weekend of exhibition. It got 18.9 million dollars this holiday period and internationally it has accumulated 616 million dollars.

Paramount's R-rated World War II drama "Allied" debuted in fourth place, with 18 million dollars in five-day sales.

Another Paramount's film "Arrival" placed in fifth with 11.3 million dollars, dipping just 7.3 percent in its third weekend. This 47 million dollars budget film has gained over 62.3 million dollars since it has released.

Rounding out the rest 10 most-popular films in the U.S. and Canada in five-day holiday period were "Trolls" (14.3 million), "Almost Christmas" (9.5 million), "Bad Santa 2" (9 million), "Hacksaw Ridge" (7.7 million), and "The Edge of Seventeen" (4.2 million).