With NATIONAL TREASURE and THE INCREDIBLES taking first and second place in the Thanksgiving Holiday box office ended Nov. 28, 2004, The Walt Disney Co. becomes the first studio to reap such an honor. In fact, the entire month of November belonged to the House of Mouse, as both films dominated the top of the chart also a record.
NATIONAL TREASURE captured $32.1M for a total bounty of $87.2M. Disney/Pixars THE INCREDIBLES, the first of three animated movies in the top five, added another $23.5M, jumping from third to second and dropping a scant 11.1% from the prior week, bringing its nifty total to $214.2M. Sony/Revolutions CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS debuted at number three with $21.5M.
Warner Bros. THE POLAR EXPRESS improved nearly 24% in holding down the fourth spot, tallying $19.3M and a cume of $81.4M. Far more impressive is the fact that THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE shattered multiple box office records for a mainstream simultaneous release. THE POLAR EXPRESS crossed the $10M mark in IMAX theaters in just 19 days. Meanwhile, the three-day weekend take of $2.7M broke the earlier record of $2.1M, and the five-day take from Nov. 24-28 grossed an estimated $3.8M.
Paramount/Nickelodeons THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE slipped to fifth place yet still managed $17.8M for a two-week cume of $58.7M. Warner Bros. ALEXANDER (with vfx from Buf and MPC) managed a disappointing $13.6M for a sixth-place finish. Universals BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON (with vfx by Double Negative) slipped to seventh with $6.2M for a total of $31.9M. Miramaxs FINDING NEVERLAND (with vfx by Double Negative) broke the top 10 for the first time, plucking $4.6M and a cume of $7.7M for an eighth-place finish. Universals RAY came in ninth with $3.9M and $65.1M. New Lines AFTER THE SUNSET captured $3.1M for a total of $24.3M. Box office information obtained from boxofficemojo.com.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
