‘Coco,’ a charmer from the Land of the Dead, lives on

LOS ANGELES

The Disney-Pixar animated comedy “Coco” showed serious staying power last weekend in North American theaters, holding to the top spot for its third week running while taking in an estimated $18.3 million, industry website Exhibitor Relations reported.

The colorful film tells the story of Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez), a young Mexican who longs to become a musician despite his family’s unrelenting ban on music. He stumbles into the Land of the Dead, where trickster Hector (Gael Garcia Bernal) helps him unravel a surprising family secret.

“Coco” has taken in $135.5 million since its release over the long Thanksgiving weekend, and is already the top-grossing film ever in Mexico. It is one of just four films to lead the North American box office for three weekends in a row this year, according to Variety.com.

But that is expected to change with the much-anticipated release this week of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” predicted to net up to a mammoth $200 million in its opening weekend.

Second on North American screens this weekend was Warner Bros.’s “Justice League,” taking in $9.6 million, for a four-week total of $212 million. Its all-star cast features Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman and Jason Momoa as Aquaman, plus Ciaran Hinds as a super villain.

Third was Lionsgate’s feel-good film “Wonder,” which netted $8.5 million. The movie, starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay, tells the story of a determined fifth-grade boy with a facial deformity who must deal with rudeness and bullying by schoolmates.
Shooting up to fourth place was “The Disaster Artist,” distributed by A24, a comedy-drama directed by James Franco about the making of 2003 cult movie “The Room,” reputedly one of the worst films ever (it made a grand total of $2,000 when first released). Starring Franco, Seth Rogen and Alison Brie, “Disaster” took in $6.4 million for the weekend.

And in fifth was “Thor: Ragnarok,” featuring the self-effacing humor of Chris Hemsworth as the powerful Norse god and Cate Blanchett as death goddess Hela. The Disney film netted $6.3 million, bumping up its six-week total to $301 million.