Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Big Hero 6 wins at the domestic box office with a solid $56.2 million from 3,761 theaters, as Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar debuts in second.
Following the massive success of Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph, Disney’s newest family feature is surely to become a fan-favorite. The film has earned an A CinemaScore from moviegoers, and a 91 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“They have been on quite the roll,” said Disney’s distribution chief Dave Hollis regarding Disney’s continued hot streak. “They’re in a creative renaissance.”
Big Hero 6 follows the story about a robotic prodigy Hiro Hamada and a plus-sized inflatable robot Baymax, who team up with a group of friends to form a band of high-tech heroes to help the city of San Fransokyo. The voice cast features Jamie Chung, T.J. Miller, Maya Rudolph, Daniel Henney, Damon Wayans Jr., Genesis Rodriguez, James Cromwell and Alan Tudyk.
The film was predictably favorable amongst families, with 70 percent present in the audience. While the movie was evenly divided in terms of gender, it did play to more adults than usual animated features tend to do. More than 20 percent of moviegoers were between the age of 26 and 34, and 16 percent were between the age of 35 and 49.
The weekend’s other wide release was Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros.’ Interstellar, which did slightly less than what analysts were expecting, perhaps due to the lengthy run time of 169 minutes. Regardless, the space adventure still managed to pull in an estimated $50 million from 3,561 locations over the weekend, putting its five-day debut at $52.2 million (this includes the $3.5 million in Thursday night showings and $1.35 million from late Tuesday and Wednesday IMAX screenings).
The intergalactic sci-fi follows Anne Hathaway and Matthew McConaughey as astronauts trying to save the human race. Alongside the duo, Interstellar stars Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine.
Audience members, who were 52 percent male and 75 percent under the age of 25, gave the film a B plus CinemaScore. In addition, it received a 74 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, moderately less than Big Hero 6‘s triumphant results.
Hollis made note about the close run between the two features as they entered the box office over the weekend. “I think we went into the weekend hoping that, at the very least, that it would be close. Interstellar is a formidable title to go up against, and Christopher Nolan is one of the greatest living filmmakers, so to beat them by this margin is another sign of the creative momentum underway Disney Animation.”
Coming in third place at the box office is David Fincher’s Gone Girl with $6.1 million, exceeding the $300 million mark worldwide. In the following spot is Ouija with $6 million, declining approximately 44 percent, and gathering a total of $43.5 million since debut.
Rounding out the top five is Bill Murray’s comedy St. Vincent, with $5.7 million, for a cumulative total of $27.4 million.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: November 7-9
- Big Hero 6 – $56.2 million
- Interstellar – $50 million
- Gone Girl – $6.1 million
- Ouija – $6 million
- St. Vincent – $5.7 million
- Nightcrawler – $5.51 million
- Fury – $5.5 million
- John Wick – $4.1 million
- Alexander…Very Bad Day – $3.5 million
- The Book of Life – $2.8 million
