Encanto, Ghostbusters, Eternals Cross Minor Milestones In Quiet Weekend At The Box Office

Well, that was one of the most uneventful weekends at the box office in some time. Unless you were someone who was particularly excited to see "Christmas With the Chosen: The Messengers," which cracked the top five with $4.1 million this weekend, it was pretty quiet, serving as something of a calm before the end-of-the-year storm. Even so, "Encanto," "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," and "Eternals" passed minor milestones over the past few days. Let's dig in.

During a "it isn't much, but it'll do" sort of weekend, Disney's acclaimed musical "Encanto" topped the box office for the second week in a row with $12.7 million, taking a 53.2% drop from its opening weekend. In the process, it topped $100 million worldwide, and now sits at $116 million. Is that necessarily what Disney wants to see when recent, original animated movies such as "Moana" ($634 million worldwide), "Ralph Breaks the Internet" ($529 million), and "Frozen II" ($1.4 billion) have been such monster hits? Probably not. But these are different times, and it's extremely tough for movies to break through, even if you're Disney and have Lin-Manuel Miranda on your side.

Meanwhile, "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" continued to do well domestically, coming in at number two with $10.3 million, dropping 57.2% in its third weekend of release. The latest entry in the beloved franchise has now crossed $100 million domestic, with a global total of $145 million. Given its surprisingly reasonable (and responsible) $75 million budget, this one should end up doing well for Sony, especially if it can find some love overseas as it has yet to be released in quite a few major markets.

In somewhat surprising news, Marvel's "Eternals," which was not done any favors by critics ahead of its release, has now earned $384.3 million worldwide, adding another $4.9 million to its total this weekend. That puts it past "Black Widow," which grossed a grand total of $376.4 million during its run earlier this year. It is downright remarkable that a character who has been part of the MCU for more than a decade and finally got her first solo film led the lowest-grossing Marvel movie of the year. And yet, here we are. It speaks volumes about how that Disney+ Premier Access release surely impacted things. Theatrical exclusivity is indeed the way to go for big blockbusters still. Plain and simple.

Ridley Scott's awards-season hopeful "House of Gucci" rounded out the top three this weekend with $6.7 million in its second weekend, putting its worldwide total at $67.2 million. Interestingly enough, the movie has essentially a dead even 50/50 split between domestic and international ticket sales thus far. With a $75 million budget, it still has a long way to go to become profitable, but it may have somewhat long legs if it scores major awards nominations in the coming weeks. We shall see.

"Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" didn't find a miracle in its second weekend, dropping 50.2% and taking in $2.6 million. The reboot from Sony and Constantine Film has earned $24.2 million worldwide, essentially making back its production budget. It won't be a hit, but because it was responsibly budgeted, it may not be a total disaster if enough people get curious and rent it once it's made available on premium VOD in the coming weeks (or possibly days). But hey, "Resident Evil" had a great run at the box office for nearly 20 years. They can't all be winners.

Looking ahead, we've got Steven Spielberg's much-anticipated "West Side Story" arriving this week, as well as the acclaimed A24 flick "Red Rocket, not to mention Arron Sorkin's "Being the Ricardos." It will be a big weekend for Oscar hopefuls, as Netflix is also releasing "Don't Look Up" in select theaters.