The Grinch, Universal and Illumination’s animated reboot of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, grabbed the number one spot at the U.S./Canada box office this weekend, earning approximately $66 million.
Compared to the other films that opened this weekend, including The Girl In the Spider’s Web and Overlord, The Grinch came out on top with The Girl In the Spider’s Web only earning a meager $8 million while Overlord accumulated approximately $10 million.
While the film was expected to make bank in theaters as the leading holiday family film being released this Christmas season, The Grinch also made history as the biggest opening for a Christmas movie ever. The last Christmas film to hold the record was Ron Howard's How The Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Jim Carrey, which earned $55.1 million opening weekend.
For an impressive opening weekend, The Grinch still scored fairly low in comparison to Illumination’s other opening weekends, with Minions in the lead maintaining a whopping $115 million according to Box Office Mojo.
The Grinch is co-directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier. The voice cast includes Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) as the grouchy, Christmas-hating Grinch, Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) as Donna Who, Cameron Seely as Cindy-Lou Who, and Pharrell Williams as the Narrator.
The Grinch is now playing in theaters!