Battle at the Box Office 1/1/24
As we start 2024, Wonka is ruling the holiday box office as most movies saw an increase from the traditionally slow pre-Christmas period.
Wonka was unseated Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom during Christmas last week but returned to the #1 spot with an increase in business of 26%, taking in $22.6 million and raising its domestic total to $133.3 million. Globally, it has $384.5 million in total. It’s around $90 million behind Charlie and the Chocolate Factory globally and about $66 million behind domestically. It is tracking above another post-Christmas musical phenomenon, The Greatest Showman, which exploded after a lackluster holiday opening and had unbelievable holds each of the following weekends. Wonka is tracking ahead of The Greatest Showman every weekend. The Greatest Showman ended its domestic run with $173.7 million and if Wonka can continue to outpace it, it would easily be in the $200 million+ territory.
While most movies saw an increase in business, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom lost 34% of last weekend’s mediocre opening with another $18.2 million, bringing it to $76.6 million domestically. The one silver lining is that that drop is actually solid and we’ve seen movies like The Flash and The Marvels hit 60-70% drops in their second weekend. It still won’t end the DCEU on a solid note but maybe it will have slightly more staying power in the next few weeks. Aquaman has $255.4 million globally, already passing the total worldwide grosses of Blue Beetle and Shazam! Fury of the Gods and closing in on The Flash, so it will at least be the best-performing DCEU movie globally of 2023.
Migration remained in 3rd place with another $17 million, increasing 37% from last weekend. It has $54.1 million domestically and $105.5 million worldwide. It’s currently the lowest-grossing movie in Illumination history and needs to make around $50 million more domestically or $83 million worldwide to top Hop.
The Color Purple and Anyone But You rounded out the top 5. The Color Purple opened on Christmas Day last week and made $11.7 million this past weekend with a domestic total so far of $44 million. Anyone But You increased 46% from last weekend and made another $8.7 million, for $24.8 million domestically and $32.8 million worldwide.
Further down the list, The Boys in the Boat currently has $21.9 million, opening on Christmas Day last week and was in 6th place this weekend. The Iron Claw has $16.3 million domestically and Ferrari has $10.9 million, for 7th and 8th respectively.
The Per Theater average went to All of Us Strangers, which made $19,000 in each of 6 theaters it was playing in over the weekend.