Animated flick The Grinch opened up this weekend with an impressive $66 million debut at the domestic box office and $78.7 million worldwide. While it’s a win for the Illumination universe, it marks one of the lowest showings for the brand—an impressive fact to say the least.
The film, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and narrated by Pharrell Williams, can attribute its strong opening to good holiday timing and no real competition in the animation realm since Hotel Transylvania 3 mania back in July.
This film arrives 18 years after Jim Carrey’s How The Grinch Stole Christmas earned a significant $55 million debut, the fifth-biggest of all the time in the year 2000. The film, up against a $123 million budget, earned $345 million worldwide.
Next up, Disney’s Ralph Break the Internet will be providing a new source of competition for the Illumination and Universal creation, but as the year inches closer toward Christmas, The Grinch will likely keep its momentum thereafter.
Most recently, Tyler, The Creator shared another cut off of the projects soundtrack with “I Am The Grinch” after previously debuting his rendition of the classic “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
The full soundtrack is set to feature additional voices form the likes of Run-DMC, Nat King Cole, and The Supremes.
