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Box Office: ‘Moana’ outpaces ‘Fantastic Beasts’ on Black Friday

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Disney’s latest animated feature, “Moana,” continued its hold on the Thanksgiving weekend box office, adding another $21.8 million Friday to boost an already strong opening.

Featuring songs by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and the voices of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and newcomer Auli’i Cravalho, the film set in the South Pacific has received strong critical notices, earning a rating of 98% on the review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes. The movie had earned a combined $25 million since its opening late Tuesday night and is on pace to meet a pre-release weekend estimate of $75 million, a number that was shared by those who have reviewed audience surveys.

Justin Chang reviews Disney’s latest animated movie, “Moana,” starring Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson. Video by Jason H. Neubert

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Still drawing a crowd in second place, J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” spinoff “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” earned an estimated $18.5 million Friday. The box office leader during its opening last week, the film starring Eddie Redmayne has already earned close to $130 million.

The numbers translate to some welcome news for Hollywood, which weathered some disappointing totals for would-be blockbusters over the summer. So far this season, totals are 5% stronger than this time last year, according to comScore.

The latest installment in the superhero extravaganza from the Marvel universe, “Doctor Strange” came in third Friday with earnings of $5.4 million. Rounding out the top five, the war drama “Allied” took in $4.9 million for fourth place and “Arrival,” the grown-up-oriented alien invasion feature starring Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner, came in fifth with $4.5 million.

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chris.barton@latimes.com

Follow me over here @chrisbarton.

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