NTSC USER

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.


Coming in at No. 2 is "Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them". The film, now in its second frame, earned $6.5 million at 3,875 locations, raising its domestic total to just shy of $100 million.

"Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them" was #2 Friday with $5.0 million, while "Allied" grabbed #3 on the strength of $2.2 million.

Third place was held down by "Arrival", with $7.3 million in receipts this weekend and $73 million in three weeks of exhibition. While there are still some big films on the horizon, including "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and the animated "Sing", it remains to be seen whether or not they will compete with the late-game 2015 juggernaut of "The Force Awakens", which earned $652 million in the last 14 days of the year.

Arrival bounds past Robert Zemeckis' Allied, the Brad Pitt/Marion Cotillard historical thriller, which tallies a little over $7 million across its sophomore weekend, bringing its total to $28.9 million since its November 23 premiere. Unadjusted for inflation, the film is now director Denis Villeneuve's top earner in the region.

The weekend's only new wide release, BH Tilt's Incarnate, opened to an estimated $2.6 million for the weekend from 1,737 locations. The US$5 million film is being released under the Blumhouse label BH Tilt. The Darkness did, however, fall in-line with expectations, earning a healthy $10.8 millon on a modest budget as part of Tilt's alternative releasing model.

The Christmas wave of new films began to roll out this weekend in limited release, with "Jackie" opening on just five screens nationwide and taking in $275,000, and "Lion" grossing $120,234 in seven theaters. The film, which is garnering awards buzz, was bought by Searchlight at the Toronto Film Festival in September. The film's composer, Mica Levi, also earned recognition from the LAFCA on Sunday, receiving recognition as the critics circle's runner-up in the Best Music Score category.

Amazon and Roadside's Manchester by the Sea, which picked up several awards and nominations this week, earned $2.36 million this weekend as it expanded to 156 locations. But the box office for the year remains up around 4 percent.

Check out the Dec. 2-4 box office estimates below:

1. Moana - $28.4 million
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - $18.5 million
3. Arrival - $7.3 million
4. Allied - $7 million
5. Doctor Strange - $6.5 million
6. Trolls - $4.6 million
7. Hacksaw Ridge - $3.4 million
8. Bad Santa 2 - $3.3 million
9. Incarnate - $2.7 million
10. Almost Christmas - $2.5 million