Disney Strikes Gold with 'Moana' at Thanksgiving Box Office

LOS ANGELES, CA -- "Moana," Disney's latest big-screen animated adventure, rocketed to the top of the North American box office in its opening weekend, besting the latest wizarding adventure by "Harry Potter" scribe J.K. Rowling, according to final figures released Monday.

"Moana" scored $56.6 million between Friday and Sunday to claim the top spot at theaters, according to box-office tracker comScore. Over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend, the film earned $82.1 million.

Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" slipped to second place, but still earned $45.1 million between Friday and Sunday.

"Fantastic Beasts" has earned just more than $156 million in its two weeks of release. The superhero tale "Doctor Strange" took third place over the weekend with $13.7 million, giving it a four-week haul of $205.8 million.

The Brad Pitt spy thriller "Allied" debuted in fourth place with $12.7 million, just ahead of the Amy Adams sci-fi drama "Arrival," which earned $11.5 million.

Rounding out the top 10 films of the weekend were "Trolls" ($10.6 million); "Bad Santa 2" ($6.2 million); "Almost Christmas" ($5.7 million); "Hacksaw Ridge" ($5.5 million); and "The Edge of Seventeen" ($3 million).

-- City News Service, photo courtesy of Disney