What Are the Biggest Thanksgiving Box Office Performances in History?

Thanksgiving is a time for family, food, football and movies.

Frozen 2 Box Office Disney Thanksgiving
How high will Disney’s Frozen 2 soar? Disney

Thanksgiving is a time for family as relatives come from near and far to steal just a few precious hours with one another. Thanksgiving is a time for gratefulness as we reflect on our lives and try not to take the important bits for granted. Thanksgiving is a time for food, endless amounts of it, heaping piles of turkey and stuffing, drowning in a delicious sea of gravy.

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But Thanksgiving is also a time for movie studios to make an absolute killing at the box office.

SEE ALSO: 10 Best Movies on Netflix & Disney+ to Watch on Thanksgiving

Sorry to commodify both a key piece of American history and a day of great personal importance to millions across the country. But Uncle Sam would be beaming with pride if he saw how seamlessly America’s driving capitalistic opportunism intertwines with a federal holiday. Gotta hustle.

With schools and offices closed, Hollywood has always eyed the Thanksgiving break as a wonderful moneymaking opportunity. Here are the biggest Thanksgiving box office runs in history, courtesy of Comscore.

Thanksgiving Box Office

The 2018 Thanksgiving season saw a record $315.5 million at the box office. Will this year match or exceed that total? It’s unlikely, as there is less blockbuster competition, but anything is possible.

Disney decided to release Frozen 2 one week earlier than its 2013 predecessor, and the results speak for themselves. Frozen 2 earned $130 million domestic in its opening frame last week and nearly $360 million worldwide, good for the biggest opening ever for Walt Disney Animation Studios, as well as for any animated film outside of summer, and the third-biggest animated debut of all time. Expect the film to post impressive holds in its second week thanks to the holiday. It’s currently tracking for a five-day total between $70 million and $80 million, per TheWrap.

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, a comedic whodunnit murder mystery, is a pure crowd-pleaser that has received rave reviews since its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. We’ve seen it, we loved it and we highly recommend you check it out (no, we aren’t getting a cut of the box office grosses unfortunately). It’s tracking for a $25 million five-day total, but pre-sales have been off the charts, so expect a final tally north of the $30 million mark.

Universal’s racial drama Queen & Slim will likely take the third spot with a five-day opening between $10 million and $12 million. However, don’t be surprised if the relatively small $20 million film over-performs a bit with audiences. We could see it threatening the $15 million mark when all is said and done.

What Are the Biggest Thanksgiving Box Office Performances in History?