'Creed' has second-biggest box office opening ever for a 'Rocky' movie
Winner of the competitive five-day total was "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2," which took in an estimated $75 million, according to The Wrap.
But the big winner of the weekend was the film that took the third place spot, "Creed."
The "Rocky"-inspired film - which looks at the son of Rocky Balboa's rival, Apollo Creed, and stars Sylvester Stallone once more as the iconic Balboa and Michael B. Jordan as the young Creed - took in an estimated $42.60 million over the five days. The $30.12 million it made over the weekend alone makes it the second-biggest domestic opening of any of the previous six movies in the "Rocky" franchise. ("Creed" was made for $37 million, according to reports.)
In fact, the top 20 titles of the year had a 112% spike in ticket sales on Black Friday over Thanksgiving day's box office, according to Deadline (also helpful was an unseasonably warm holiday weekend on the east coast).
The final chapter of the successful "Hunger Games" franchise starring Jennifer Lawrence took in $10.4 million on the holiday and then earned another $21.5 million on Black Friday. That's lower than what "Mockingjay - Part 1" did last year, but it's still an impressive tally.
However, the weekend's feel-good story line is that it's pretty certain the "Rocky" franchise is having a comeback.