On a surprisingly solid Christmas weekend, Aquaman leads a flood of newcomers.
(Almost caught up! I'm hoping that I'll be there by Wednesday)
If there's one day that theaters and studios dread happening during a weekend, it's Christmas Eve. While the night before Christmas, there are creatures stirring all through the movie house, there are usually a lot less of them than would be there on any other holiday week weekend day. It also doesn't help grosses that movies are usually released on Christmas Day and almost never on Christmas Eve, meaning that potential hits only get a day or two--or in this year's case, zero--to play during the usual three-day weekend.
This year, of course, Christmas Eve was on Sunday, meaning that Christmas Day openers missed the weekend entirely. But Santa left a surprise--while none of the films playing did anywhere near the level of Avatar: The Way of the Water or Spider-Man: No Way Home did on this weekend the last two years, overall box office was almost exactly even with Christmas weekend last year--even with Christmas last year being on Sunday. And while no movie greatly exceeded expectations, every new release held its own, and compared favorably with a similar title from the last couple of years.
Leading the way was Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is likely to be the finale of the current DCU, though it certainly didn't play like this was the end. On one hand, it opened to only $27.7 million, well down from what Aquaman opened to five years ago, and below what this year's notorious superhero flops The Marvels, The Flash, and even Shazam! Fury of the Gods opened to. That said, pretty much everyone knew this wouldn't have a great opening, and unlike those other films, it has the chance to redeem itself through the lucrative Christmas-New Year's week. Even with this low opening, it stands an excellent chance of being the highest grosser of the 2023 quartet, which is admittedly not a great accomplishment, but is nevertheless an accomplishment.
Like every other holdover title, last week's champ (and fellow Warner Bros. release) Wonka lost about half its business from the previous weekend, as it took in $18.1 million. That brings its ten-day total to $75.6 million. As a family film, Wonka will be well served during Christmas-New Year's week, as virtually every kid in North America is out of school. Expect this to become 2023's 22nd $100 million grosser before the ball drops.
With all the hype surrounding it, it's a bit surprising that Illumination's Migration could only open to $12.5 million. That said, that's almost exactly what Puss in Boots: The Last Wish made last Christmas weekend (to be fair, Puss in Boots had opened that Wednesday). I'm not saying that Migration is going to fly to Puss's $186.1 million, but like Wonka, it will have a chance to spread its wings this coming week, and like Wonka, has not much in the way of family competition in January and February, with only the much-belated wide theatrical releases of Pixar's pandemic-era straight-to-Disney+ titles currently scheduled.
Romcom Anyone But You, starring not-exactly-superstars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, opened to an OK $6 million. Granted, that's not a huge total, but given that its rated R, starring two actors that have never headlined a major film before, and is in a genre that has largely been regulated to streaming and TV movies, it could be a lot worse. Indeed, while there are a lot of difference between the two films, it did a lot better than the all-star Babylon did last year. Besides, romcoms are generally built to be leggy, not have big openings.
Indian action thriller Salaar snuck into the Top 5, taking in $5.6 million. That's enough to make it the third-biggest opening of an Indian movie this year, and only a bit under a million behind the biggest Indian start, January's Pathaan. Indian movies tend to burn out quickly, but if it can take advantage of the coming week, it could finish close to $20 million.
In 6th, tragic wrestling biopic The Iron Claw bodyslammed $4.9 million. The drama, released by beloved art house distributor A24, managed to open a bit better than last year's much more flashy, audience-friendly tragic biopic, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, which got a lot more promotion than The Iron Claw has.
After three weeks in 2nd, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes found the odds were no longer in its favor, falling all the way to 7th with $3 million. Its total stands at $152.4 million. Also falling five spaces is The Boy and the Heron. The anime earned $2.8 million for a total of $30.2 million.
It's rare that two major Indian films open against each other, particularly on Christmas weekend, but that's what happened with the comedy Dunki. Apparently to get ahead of Salaar, it arrived on Thursday, and took in $2.7 million during the weekend proper, and $3.6 million since its opening.
Rounding out the Top 10, Godzilla Minus One continues to romp all over the North American box office, bringing in $2.6 million for a total of $40.3 million, as it works its way to 6th on the all time foreign language film list. Next up for it to roar past is Instructions Not Included.
With this week's new films all opening on Christmas Day rather than Friday, we have a pretty good idea of how next weekend might turn out. Possibly heading for the top spot is The Color Purple, the adaption of the Broadway musical version of Alice Walker's classic novel, which was already turned into a major film in 1985, directed by Stephen Spielberg and introducing much of the world to Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey (Spielberg and Winfrey produce this time around, and Goldberg makes a cameo appearance). The musical had a huge Christmas day opening, and could be heading for a strong post-holiday run. Also out already is the George Clooney-directed historical drama The Boys in the Boat, about the rowing crew that competed for the United States in the 1936 Olympics. Joel Edgerton is the biggest name in this. There's also Ferrari, marking the second time in three years, after House of Gucci, that Adam Driver has played a wealthy Italian whose last name has become synonymous with a luxury brand. Will Purple find box office gold? Will Aquaman swim back to the top? Could Wonka or Migration bring in enough families to take #1? We'll find out next week.
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