Walt Disney Pictures gave a domestic theatrical release for an animated title for the first time in a year this weekend in the form of Raya and the Last Dragon, which took the top spot at the box office.
According to Variety, Raya and the Last Dragon opened to $8.6 million. This gives Raya the fifth-biggest domestic opening weekend for a movie since the pandemic began. However, its opening was below the opening weekends of other family movies released during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, such as The Croods: A New Age ($9.7 million) and Tom and Jerry ($14.1 million).
This lower debut is potentially attributable to a number of factors, including Disney's decision to simultaneously debut Raya on Disney+ as Premier Access video-on-demand title. There's also the fact that Raya's theater count was impacted by its inability to play at a number of high-profile theater chains like Cinemark as well as the film debuting so closely after another family movie, Tom and Jerry.
Directed by Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada from a script by Adele Lim and Qui Nguyen, Raya and the Last Dragon stars Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong, Izaac Wang, Thalia Tran, Alan Tudyk, Lucille Soong, Patti Harrison and Ross Butler. The film is now playing in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.
Source: Variety