The Thanksgiving box office wasn’t as strong as it has been in recent years, but ticket sales for new movies gave us hope that we are on the right track to a rebound.

According to Comscore data, the $52 million spent by moviegoers across the U.S. and Canada over the holiday weekend was for films like “Encanto,” House of Gucci and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”.

While the sales haul may not be as impressive as those in years past, when ticket sales often exceeded $250m, it is a sign of consumer confidence in going back to the cinemas during this epidemic.

Shawn Robbins chief analyst at BoxOffice.com said that “this weekend once again demonstrated how the box office continues taking baby steps in long-term pandemic recovery.” Many consumers are still cautious especially when new Covid varieties make headlines.

Top of the box office: Disney’sThe “Encanto” project, which was valued at $40.3 million on Wednesday and Sunday, earned an estimated $40.3 millions. Although this is a smaller number than recent Thanksgiving release, DisneyFamilies are returning to the cinemas more often, thanks to films like “Frozen II” which earned $130 million in five days.

Family-friendly movies, particularly animated ones, were largely unsuccessful during the pandemic because their parents left unvaccinated children home. In spite of rising vaccination rates, and recent approvals a vaccine for kids aged five to 11It is possible that there will be significant improvement in box office sales over the next months.

MGM and Gucci distributed “House of Gucci” UniversalIt raked in an estimated $21.2 million domestically on the long weekend. The film is targeted at seniors and some analysts worried it would not make significant sales over Thanksgiving. The pandemic has seen older viewers return to cinemas at a slower pace than younger audiences, and this is evident in films like “No Time to Die,” and “The Last Duel.”

Robbins said that “Encanto and House of Gucci made great strides in helping families and moviegoers to return without any need for a franchise.” “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” also started to prove its staying power during the holidays.

The release of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife”, a film about ghosts, was a week ahead of Thanksgiving. It added $35.2 million to the domestic total. For its two first weeks, the film’s ticket sales are expected to reach $90 million in Canada and the U.S.

Paul Dergarabedian is senior media analyst with Comscore. “In any year, the Thanksgiving frame serves as a barometer for how the last weeks of box-office performance will turn out.” “The industry should be very encouraged by the strong support of consumers of the big screen experience heading further into the holidays and into 2022.”

Disclosure: Comcast owns NBCUniversal, CNBC and other media companies.