The holiday season is a time for strong holds at the box office, and several of the Christmas season’s releases are showing staying power with moviegoers this New Year’s weekend with Warner Bros. “Wonka” taking No. 1 for a third straight weekend.
The Timothee Chalamet film added $8.6 million on Friday, and industry estimates have it earning a spectacular $33 million over four days. A lot can change over the weekend, particularly if New Year’s Eve turnout on Sunday is lower than expected, but if that result holds it would represent a 16% increase for “Wonka” over the $28.3 million it earned over the 4-day Christmas weekend.
“Wonka” will pass $300 million in global box office grosses this weekend and is on pace to pass $150 million domestic sometime next week. In a year where its box office fortunes have largely been defined by “Barbie” and DC, this is a film that is shaping up to be a solid victory for Warner Bros.
Speaking of DC, the holiday period is providing a little help for “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” after its anemic $38.3 million extended Christmas opening. After grossing $6.75 million on its second Friday, industry estimates have the sequel grossing $25 million over the 4-day weekend for a total of $83.3 million domestic through New Year’s Day.
There’s two ways to look at that result. On the one hand, “Aquaman 2” is the only film in the top 10 for this weekend estimated for a double-digit percentage weekend drop, a sign of how this DC film is struggling to draw casual interest even as the holiday season mitigates that compared to the summer bust that was “The Flash.”
On the other hand, “Aquaman 2” will at least cross $100 million in domestic grosses. That’s something that couldn’t be said for Marvel Studios’ “The Marvels,” which “Aquaman 2” opened beneath last weekend but now is on the verge of passing its $84.4 million domestic and $205 million global total.
Illumination/Universal’s “Migration” is in third with an estimated $21.5 million 4-day total, a 20% increase from its $17.8 million extended opening. The original animated film got off to a limp start over Christmas weekend, particularly overseas; but it was always going to be a marathon rather than a sprint for this film as it hopes to leg out into January as the sole major animated offering in theaters for families.
Christmas Day releases complete the top 5, with Warner Bros./Amblin’s “The Color Purple” in fourth with an industry estimated $16 million over four days. Through its first week in theaters, the acclaimed musical starring Fantasia Barrino and Taraji P. Henson is estimated to score a domestic total of $48 million.
With a reported budget of at least $90 million, “The Color Purple” still has a ways to go to be a box office hit. Turnout from older Black audiences has been through the roof, but it remains to be seen whether the film’s strong word-of-mouth and likely Oscars consideration will draw interest from other demographics to keep the film going in January.
Amazon MGM’s “The Boys in the Boat” and Sony/Columbia’s “Anyone But You” are in a narrow race for the No. 5 spot, with industry estimates projecting $10-11 million 4-day weekends for both films. “The Boys in the Boat,” a sports biopic directed by George Clooney, is estimated to earn $25 million through its first week, while “Anyone But You,” a romcom starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, is estimated for $27 million through two weekends.
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