As a seasoned movie enthusiast who has witnessed the evolution of cinema for decades, I must say that revisiting the box office landscape of Thanksgiving 2004 is like stepping into a time machine. It’s fascinating to see how drastically different it was compared to modern-day moviemaking. Back then, original films were given a chance to shine, and not just sequels or adaptations based on pre-existing properties.
In terms of the anticipated box office for Thanksgiving 2024, there’s been a lot of buzz about the upcoming clash between “Wicked”, “Gladiator II”, and “Moana 2”. If box office predictions hold true, these three films are poised to have blockbuster openings that could elevate the Thanksgiving box office to unprecedented levels. It’s tempting to succumb to recency bias and think this is the busiest timeframe ever for new movies, but it’s important to remember that many previous Thanksgiving box office periods were also incredibly busy, such as the one 20 years ago.
Reflecting back on the Thanksgiving weekend of November 26-28, 2004, I find myself captivated by the array of fresh releases that took over the box office, creating an exceptionally prosperous frame for the holiday season. This weekend ranked as the sixth-largest domestic gross in 2004 with a staggering $146.4 million haul, making it intriguing to revisit after two decades. The movies of this era seem almost alien, yet there are glimmers of what was to come for the future of cinema. Undeniably, Thanksgiving remains an opportune time for studios to unveil their blockbuster films.
National Treasure Was the Biggest Movie of Thanksgiving 2004
In its second weekend, the movie “National Treasure” led the box office earnings for a three-day span, adding another $32.1 million to its total. This represented an 8% drop compared to its opening weekend earnings. The film, featuring Nicolas Cage on a treasure hunt tied to American history, was a massive success for Disney, having made a domestic total of $87.2 million in just ten days. By collaborating directly instead of assigning Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ productions to Touchstone Pictures, the studios Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films were creating box office gold.
Discussing Disney’s Pixar production, The Incredibles – another Disney holdover – earned an additional $23.58 million in this week, marking a 11% decrease from the previous week. Having been in theaters for four weeks now, this film has garnered a total of $214.29 million domestically so far. Coming in third place was the weekend’s most popular non-Disney title, Christmas with the Kranks.
This past weekend, “The Polar Express,” the fourth highest-grossing movie, raked in an impressive $19.38 million during its third week in theaters. This marked a 23% rise from its earnings the previous weekend. As Christmas draws near, another family-friendly flick, “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,” earned $17.84 million in its second week of release, securing a spot among the top five films. It’s worth noting that family-oriented movies tend to be popular during holidays, as evidenced by the numerous Walt Disney Animation Studios releases over Thanksgiving weekend.
In contrast, the family-friendly films dominated the box office during Thanksgiving 2004, with an unprecedented level of success. The top five movies in North America were either PG or G rated and targeted at families. Remarkably, each of these titles earned at least $17.8 million, demonstrating how similar audience-focused films can coexist and even prosper together. Unfortunately, adult-oriented movies didn’t perform as well during that Thanksgiving 20 years ago; Oliver Stone’s expensive “Alexander” could only manage to open with $13.68 million over its three-day debut weekend.
Thanksgiving 2004 Was Drastically Different From Modern Moviegoing
2004’s Thanksgiving was noteworthy as it featured a lineup of family movies, none of which were sequels, although two were based on prior material. Remarkably, the top two films, namely National Treasure and The Incredibles, were entirely new productions! Fast forward to 2024’s Thanksgiving, and it appears we’ll be seeing an animated sequel, a follow-up to the classic film Gladiator, and a Broadway show adaptation that carries on the legacy of the famous 1937 Wizard of Oz adaptation. In today’s Hollywood, original ideas are becoming less common, with nostalgia-driven adaptations based on ’80s/90s television shows being more prevalent. Even bringing hit kids’ TV shows like SpongeBob SquarePants to the big screen is no longer the norm; instead, we see adaptations of older small-screen programming from the 1980s and 1990s.
Back in 2004 during the Thanksgiving season, the movie landscape was quite different compared to today. Instead of a few major blockbusters raking in massive earnings while the rest struggle with smaller grosses, there were multiple movies that did exceptionally well. To put it simply, I’d say three films made over $20 million each, and six titles earned more than $10 million apiece. Contrast this to Thanksgiving 2022 where only two movies managed to reach the $10+ million mark domestically, with “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” virtually monopolizing ticket sales that weekend.
2004’s Thanksgiving marked a significant shift in box office trends, as it was the year that two Disney films led the domestic box office. During the late ’90s and early 2000s, Disney wasn’t the box office powerhouse it is today. In years like 2000, its total domestic earnings barely surpassed $1 billion, while in 2001, it only made $901.6 million. Compare that to its 2018 earnings of $3.13 billion! Movies like Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, released in 2003, hinted at Disney’s potential resurgence, and 2004 continued this positive trend.
In November 2004, both The Incredibles and National Treasure had impressive box office performances, marking a significant achievement for Disney. This pattern continued in future Novembers, with movies like Thor: Ragnarok and Coco thriving in 2017, and Doctor Strange and Moana in 2016. However, the box office landscape of Thanksgiving 2004 is quite different from what we see today. With a focus on original films instead of relying on a single blockbuster hit, it seems almost alien compared to the norms of 2024. Nevertheless, studio executives and theater owners are eagerly anticipating that upcoming releases like Wicked and Moana 2 will learn from the success of the numerous hits from Thanksgiving 2004, which managed to excel financially without cannibalizing each other.
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2024-11-28 23:09