The Grinch tops the box office with a mean $66 million debut

Universal Pictures' heart (and possibly its treasure chest) grew three sizes this weekend as The Grinch topped the weekend box office.

The new retelling of the classic Dr. Seuss story from the studio behind Despicable Me took in an impressive $66 million this weekend, more than enough to take the number one spot. That's just a bit lower than the studio's last Dr. Seuss adaptation, The Lorax, which opened to $70 million in 2012, but higher than Despicable Me's $56 million debut. The Grinch follows a time-honored tradition of studios releasing Christmas movies early, and it's likely to receive a Thanksgiving boost, although it will soon face some tough competition from Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet.

Meanwhile, Paramount's World War II zombie flick Overlord wasn't so lucky, taking in just $10 million this weekend and coming in behind Bohemian Rhapsody's second outing despite the positive reviews from critics. Luckily for Paramount, Overlord's budget was relatively modest at $38 million, Variety reports.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Getting off to an even worse start was Sony's The Girl in the Spider's Web, which only made $8 million and came in at number five. In 2011,The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had a similarly low opening weekend of $12 million, but it was able to eventually rake in more than $100 million. The difference, though, is that film came out over Christmas and received positive reviews; with this new film earning a low 44 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the odds of a strong finish don't look to be in its favor.