Wonka, a musical movie, really shone during the holidays, especially on New Year’s Eve. It stars Timothée Chalamet as a younger version of Willy Wonka. The movie did great over the weekend, making $22.7 million, and is expected to bring in $29.5 million over the holiday period. So far, it’s made $140.2 million in the U.S., which is impressive given its $125 million cost. Worldwide, it’s nearing $400 million in earnings.
On the other hand, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom haven’t been as successful. It earned $18.3 million over the weekend and $23.5 million during the holiday. Its total U.S. earnings are now $81.8 million. Despite making over $250 million globally, the movie might not make a profit because it was expensive to produce and market, costing more than $200 million. This is a letdown compared to the first “Aquaman” movie, which made over $1 billion worldwide. This result marks the end of the DC Extended Universe series. James Gunn and Peter Safran, the new bosses at DC, are planning to start fresh with a new Superman movie.
In third place is the animated movie Migration, made by Universal and Illumination. It brought in $17 million over the weekend and is expected to make $22 million during the holiday, totaling $59.1 million in the U.S. It’s not as big a hit as Sing or Despicable Me, but it was less expensive to make, with a budget of about $70 million.
The Color Purple, a musical based on Alice Walker’s book, and Anyone But You, a romantic comedy, are fourth and fifth in earnings. “The Color Purple” made $11.7 million over the weekend and is set to make $14.8 million during the holiday, bringing its U.S. total to $47.1 million. It’s getting a lot of praise and could be a strong contender in award seasons. “Anyone But You,” starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, didn’t get much love from critics. It made $8.7 million over the weekend and is expected to reach $11 million during the holiday, adding up to $27.1 million in the U.S. It’s an okay performance, considering its $25 million budget.
#Wonka claims victory in the last domestic weekend box office of 2023 with $23.9M!🎬
Sweet success for the chocolate factory!🍫 pic.twitter.com/1UYalaT4LF
— Moby Media (@mobymedia) January 2, 2024
In general, the U.S. movie market in 2023 made $9 billion, according to ComScore. This is better than 2022’s $7.4 billion but still lower than 2019’s $11.4 billion, the year before the pandemic. The movie industry is getting back on its feet after COVID-19, but it’s not quite back to its best yet. Source
Also Read Spain’s 2023 Box Office: Barbenheimer Powers Total Revenues to 18% Below Pre-Pandemic Levels.
