Early tracking puts the two new Thanksgiving wide releases in the same range: Walt Disney Animation’s Hexed and Universal/Paramount’s Focker-in-Law are each projected to open to $40M–$50M over the five-day Wednesday-to-Sunday stretch, according to Deadline. That is a solid holiday result, but not the kind of event frame the last two Thanksgivings delivered.
A sequel, an original and a hot holdover
Hexed is an original Disney animation with Hailee Steinfeld in the lead voice role and Jodie Foster as the villain Queen Celeste. It follows an awkward teen and her Type-A mother who discover the daughter’s peculiarities may be magical powers. It is not a musical, but it uses needle-drop songs.
Focker-in-Law is the fourth Meet the Parents film, with Ariana Grande joining Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. The story centres on Henry, son of Greg and Pam Focker, as he faces family chaos before marrying a strong-willed woman who appears to be a complete mismatch. Universal is handling domestic distribution; Paramount has the film overseas.
The wildcard is Lionsgate’s Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which enters its second weekend with such strong presales that it could beat both new openers over the same Wednesday-to-Sunday period.
What the tracking really shows
- Hexed is pacing ahead of Encanto’s $40.5M five-day Thanksgiving total, and ahead of The Wild Robot ($35.8M three-day), Elemental ($29.6M) and Elio ($20.8M). Women are the strongest first-choice group.
- Focker-in-Law is ahead of Practical Magic 2 ($30M three-day) and Freakier Friday ($28.5M), with first-choice strength among women over 25, women under 25 and men over 25.
- The first three Meet the Parents films have grossed $1.16B worldwide, so the franchise has a built-in base, but tickets only recently went on sale.
The wider holiday frame
In the all-time Thanksgiving five-day top ten, Moana 2 leads with $225.4M and The Good Dinosaur holds the tenth slot at $55.4M. Neither new opener is expected to enter that range.
The 2024 Thanksgiving corridor still holds the record, with $424.9M from all titles Wednesday through Sunday. Last year was the fifth-highest at $290.3M. This year’s openers won’t close that gap, but the industry is still pushing toward a very hopeful $10B domestic year.
For media planners, the practical read is simple: track women-first demand as the leading indicator, watch whether the Hunger Games prequel drains the new films or the holiday expands enough for all three, and don’t use 2024 as the base case for a normal Thanksgiving.
Source: Deadline
