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Fourth is Allied, Paramount’s World War 2 espionage title with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. This appeared to be a tough sell over Thanksgiving weekend, as reviews were hardly stellar, and the smell of Brad Pitt’s marriage lingered over the marketing campaign. It got started on Wednesday with a ho-hum $2.7 million, and followed that up with an even more ho-hum number on Thanksgiving day, when it earned $2.4 million. On Friday, Allied earned $4.9 million, which is the nail in the coffin for this $85 million release. Over three days, Allied earned $13 million, over five days it earned $18 million. Unless there is a massive save coming from overseas audiences, Allied is instantly in trouble.

For a film like Allied to work, reviews have to be great, and in this case, they were mixed at best. At Rotten Tomatoes, 73 reviews were positive at the time of this writing, and 45 were negative, leading to a 62% fresh rating. The Cinemascore was terrible for the genre, coming in at a B, which puts even more pressure on the overseas grosses. For a film like this to work, it likely needs $250 million worldwide to be profitable, and it at this point, only $35 million of that is going to come from the domestic box office.

Arrival holds very nicely this weekend, as the Amy Adams sci-fi flick takes viewers away from Allied and Rules Don’t Apply. Arrival earned $11.3 million over the three-day portion of the weekend, dropping 7% compared to its $12.1 million gross last weekend. The five-day total is estimated at $15.6 million and is the kind of weekend that Paramount should be pleased with. The $45 million film has a domestic tally so far of $62.4 million, and prior to the start of the weekend, the overseas gross was listed at $22 million. It still has a ways to go to recoup the budget, but it should make it.

Trolls is sixth, as the cute little toys struggle for relevancy with all the other kid-friendly entertainment on screens this weekend. The DreamWorks Animation release earned another $10.3 million and fell 41%. The domestic gross has reached $135.1 million against a $125 million budget. The overseas total has risen to $156 million, so it still has a long way to go.

Bad Santa 2 finishes in seventh – and that might look bad- but remember that the original placed fifth over Thanksgiving in 2003, earning $12.3 million. The Wednesday for the Billy Bob Thornton sequel was almost bang on that of the original ($1.56 million versus $1.64 million), but faded after the built in audience showed up on Wednesday only. Over the three-day portion of the weekend, Bad Santa 2 could manage only $6.1 million; over the five-day long weekend, $9 million. The original cost only $23 million to make, and the sequel came in quite similarly at $26 million. The original eked out a profit, earning $76.5 million, but I believe the sequel will struggle a bit more.

The difference between the two is the quality of the filmmaking. The original Bad Santa delighted critics (considering the subject matter), as reviews came in at 78% fresh. The sequel seemed to have the opposite effect, with reviews at 25% fresh. The same went for the Cinemascore - the original was a B, but the sequel is a dreaded C+. The only thing that might be able to help this poorly made sequel is the proliferation of overseas screens since the original opened. An improved haul over there just may bail Santa out of the mess he’s in.

Eighth is Almost Christmas, Will Packer’s holiday comedy. Almost Christmas held nicely this holiday weekend, earning $5.7 million, down 21%. The Universal release has now pulled in $34.8 million domestically against a budget of $17 million.

Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge is ninth and has a decent hold this weekend. Hacksaw Ridge earned another $5.5 million and falls a slim 18%, as holds have been excellent since opening to $15 million. The current domestic haul has reached $52.2 million, with another $10 million or so from overseas venues.

Tenth goes to Edge of Seventeen, last weekend’s failed James L. Brooks comedy. After opening last weekend to only $4.8 million, the teen angst comedy drops 38% in weekend two, earning $3 million. STX is lucky that this only cost $9 million to make, as it has a total to date of $10.3 million.

Finishing outside of the top ten is Rules Don’t Apply, Warren Beatty’s new drama. It was met with a collective shrug, as despite opening on 2,382 venues, it earned only $1.6 million over three days and $2.2 million over five. Rules cost Fox $25 million to make.

Overall this Thanksgiving weekend, the top 12 earned a powerful $174 million compared to last year, when under the strength of the last Hunger Games film, Creed, and The Good Dinosaur, the top 12 earned $173.3 million. Next weekend brings one film, Incarnate, a December horror flick with Aaron Eckhart. I don’t anticipate lineups.

Top Ten for Weekend of November 25-27, 2016
Rank	Film	Distributor	Estimated Gross (millions)	Weekly Change	Running Total (millions)
1	Moana	Walt Disney	55.5	New	81.1
2	Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them	Warner Bros.	45.1	-39%	156.2
3	Doctor Strange	Walt Disney	13.4	-25%	205.1
4	Allied	Paramount	13.0	New	18.0
5	Arrival	Paramount	11.3	-7%	62.4
6	Trolls	20th Century Fox	10.3	-41%	135.1
7	Bad Santa 2	Broadgreen Pictures	6.1	New	9.0
8	Almost Christmas	Universal	5.7	-21%	36.7
9	Hacksaw Ridge	Lionsgate	5.5	-18%	52.2
10	Edge of Seventeen	STX Entertainment	3.0	-38%	10.3
11	Loving	Focus Features	1.7	+94%	4.1
12	Rules Don't Apply	20th Century Fox	1.6	New	2.2

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