(Bloomberg) -- “Frozen II” surpassed sales of its predecessor “Frozen” in its seventh week of release, becoming the highest-grossing animated film ever, while “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” was this weekend's top draw, extending Walt Disney Co.'s box-office dominance into 2020 after a stellar 2019.
“The Rise of Skywalker” brought in $34.5 million this weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, researcher Comscore Inc. said Monday, while “Frozen II” generated $11.9 million in ticket sales domestically to help reach a global gross of $1.33 billion. That puts the sequel ahead of the original film's $1.28 billion, Comscore reported.
Key Insights
- Overall ticket sales rose 3.5% from the same weekend last year, according to Comscore. But the domestic 2020 box office overall may slide for a second year in a row. In 2019, ticket sales declined by almost $500 million to about $11.4 billion, according to Comscore.
- This weekend usually lacks new releases, as studios ride the wave of the busy holiday movie-going period. However, Sony Corp. released a big horror-franchise film, “The Grudge,” a remake of a 2002 Japanese movie about a house cursed by a vengeful ghost. It grossed $11.4 million in its opening weekend, Comscore said. Box Office Pro had projected $8.5 million in its first three days of wide release.
- Two other Sony films -- “Jumanji: The Next Level” and Little Women” -- placed second and third at the box office.
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To contact the reporter on this story: Kelly Gilblom in Los Angeles at kgilblom@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, John J. Edwards III, Kevin Miller
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