Disney Animation’s Hexed and the Meet the Parents sequel Focker-in-Law are both tracking for $40 million to $50 million over the five-day Thanksgiving stretch, Deadline reports.
Disney’s next animated movie has its first big number, and it’s a respectable one.
Walt Disney Animation’s Hexed is tracking for a five-day Thanksgiving opening of $40 million to $50 million, Deadline reported on Friday, Nov. 6. The movie opens in theaters Wednesday, Nov. 25.
It has company. Universal’s comedy Focker-in-Law, starring Ariana Grande, Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, is tracking in the exact same range.
So Thanksgiving could turn into a witch-versus-in-laws showdown, unless a big franchise sequel crashes the party first.
Here’s the official trailer from Walt Disney Animation Studios:
What is Hexed about?
Hexed is an original story, which is rarer than it used to be at Disney. Deadline describes it as the tale of an awkward teen and her Type-A mother who learn that the girl’s weird quirks might be magical powers. That discovery turns their lives upside down and opens a door to a hidden magical realm.
Hailee Steinfeld leads the voice cast. Rashida Jones, Tracey Ullman and Stephen Fry also star, according to Disney’s trailer materials.
Jodie Foster plays the villain, Queen Celeste. Deadline points out that it’s her first Disney animated movie. It’s also a homecoming of sorts, since Foster starred in Disney’s Freaky Friday back in 1976 and Candleshoe the next year.
Fawn Veerasunthorn and Jason Hand direct. Veerasunthorn co-directed Wish in 2023.
Is Hexed a musical?
Nope. Deadline says Hexed is a story movie with needle-drop songs. Existing tracks play over scenes, and nobody breaks into a big ballad.
Steinfeld still found a way to sneak some music in. She just released a remix single of the Cars’ 1984 hit “Magic,” which fits a movie about a teen witch about as neatly as possible.
How does Hexed compare to other Disney and Pixar openings?
Women are the movie’s strongest group on tracking. Deadline says first-choice interest in Hexed is running higher than it did for:
The Wild Robot, which opened to $35.8 million over three days
Elemental, which opened to $29.6 million over three days
Elio, which opened to $20.8 million over three days
Deadline also says Hexed is pacing ahead of Encanto‘s five-day Thanksgiving opening of $40.5 million in 2021. That one hit theaters while a lot of people were still easing back into moviegoing after the pandemic shutdowns.
Why are Thanksgiving box office expectations lower this year?
The last two Thanksgivings were monsters. In 2024, Moana 2 set the five-day holiday record with $225.4 million, and Wicked was packing theaters at the same time. Last year brought Zootopia 2 and Wicked: For Good.
Deadline says the 2024 holiday was the biggest Thanksgiving ever at the box office, with all movies grossing $424.9 million from Wednesday through Sunday. Last year ranked fifth at $290.3 million, per Comscore’s Rentrak data.
This year doesn’t have a Moana-sized giant. Deadline’s list of the top 10 Thanksgiving five-day openings runs from Moana 2 at No. 1 down to Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur at No. 10 with $55.4 million. So even the high end of Hexed‘s tracking would land just outside that club.
Earlier forecasts were sunnier. Laughing Place reported on Oct. 30 that BoxOfficePro predicted $50 million to $70 million over five days for Hexed. Deadline’s new range sits below that.
What else opens over Thanksgiving 2026?
Focker-in-Law is the fourth movie in the Meet the Parents series. Its story follows Henry, the son of Greg and Pam Focker, who wants to marry a strong-willed woman who looks like his total opposite. John Hamburg directs. Deadline reports the first three movies earned $1.16 billion worldwide.
Deadline says Focker-in-Law is tracking well with women over 25, women under 25 and men over 25.
The wild card is Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, which will be in its second weekend. Deadline calls presales for the Francis Lawrence prequel “just volcanic hot” and says it could top both new openers over the Wednesday-to-Sunday stretch.
Will Hexed be a hit for Disney?
That’s the big question for Disney Animation. Its recent originals had a rough run. Strange World and Wish both struggled in theaters, while sequels like Moana 2 and Zootopia 2 cleaned up.
A $40 million-plus start wouldn’t be a Moana-level win. But for a brand-new story with no built-in fan base, it would be a solid first step, with the holidays ahead.
Until Nov. 25, Disney has a teen witch, a Jodie Foster villain and an ‘80s rock remix working for it.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
Pirates and Princesses is your destination for Disney news, theme park updates, and the pop culture you love. From Disney cruises and travel tips to Disney fashion, food, collectibles, and movie news, PNP covers it all. Visit us at piratesandprincesses.net for daily coverage. Follow PNP on Facebook and Instagram, and listen to the Pirates & Princesses podcast on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.
Hat Tips:
Deadline (Nov. 6, 2026), tracking figures, plot, cast notes, comparisons and Thanksgiving totals
Laughing Place (Oct. 30, 2026), the earlier BoxOfficePro forecast
Koimoi (Oct. 31, 2026), voice cast and release details
Walt Disney Animation Studios on YouTube, the official Hexed trailer
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