Warner Bros. will be releasing three high-profile films during the Christmas season. The strategy of sticking to their guns despite the various strikes and not abandoning their post like Dune Part Two did in November is favored by the headlines. The first half of December was so barren that it allowed the cinema of Japan a window for audience attendance, but the holiday was filled with multiple releases and award season hopefuls. The King of the Crop wasominated by new releases.
We presented a lesson in not undervaluing numbers that appear less than stellar for films opening around the holiday season. Will the same hold true for Warner Bros. and the DC Extended Universe? When theaters usually close earlier before the big day, opening on a Christmas Eve weekend with a three-day (plus previews) and an estimated $10.6 million on Christmas day, it was a flop. The first film opened to $67.8 million on the same weekend last year, and a four-day start of $38-39 million is less than that. The film went on to be a billion-dollar grosser and the most successful film in the DCEU. We told you last week that only two films opened to $25 million in December and failed to reach $100 million. The two weeks of vacation for schools could help, but it will take more than that to get to that figure. It was a remarkable fall that reflected less a word-of-mouth failure than a sign of audiences feeling disconnected from event cinema that had been canceled. It is fighting an uphill battle with a $205 million production budget and an international audience that is not buying the way they used to on comic book films. The film has added $80 million internationally through the weekend. The Color Purple leads the rest of the pack.
It took an $18 million weekend to bring its 10-day total to $75.8 million. Sing 2 had $76.4 million after a $20.1 million second weekend in 2021 during a thenvaccinated season of the Pandemic. It finished with over $162 million, putting it behind The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the only other film in the running to win the holiday season crown. It's only the 16th film this year to gross over $300 million and only the second since the summer, and it's driving its global total over $250 million. Warner Bros. took the top three spots through Christmas, even with one of the films opening on Monday. The musical version of The Color Purple made an estimated $18.15 million on Christmas Day, making it the highest grossing musical of all time. If the estimates hold, it will be the 12th-best Christmas Day haul ever, just ahead of 2012's Les Miserables, which made $18.11 million, and second on the list of all-time Christmas Day openers.
The Color Purple, a $100 million production, may need every domestic dollar possible to cover that expense, as the only film to gross $10 million on Christmas Day and not break $100 million was Michael Manns Ali. On Christmas Day, Mr. Mann's film made an estimated $2.88 million, including $656,000 on Christmas Eve. It is only a single day, but it is far from being balanced on the books. The Boys in the Boat opened to $5.7 million and doubled the number of those who had already seen it. They include Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Fat Albert, The Gambler, and 47 Ronin. Sean Durkin's The Iron Claw earned $4.8 million over the weekend and an estimated $6.8 million through Christmas Day, making it the top sports biopic this season. The A24 release is a hit with critics, and we will see if it's too much for the holiday season. The Super Mario Bros. Movie has had a rough year with family dollars, and is in fourth place with a broken wing. The Pixar film Elemental was one of the lowest-grossing films, but it still made $65 and was a success against a minuscule budget. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Ferdinand both managed to gross over 80 million dollars during their seasons. It's possible that this is the first production from the animation company not to gross over $100 million, replacing Hop as their lowest-grossing domestic release to date. Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron has made over $30 million through Christmas and opened to $13 million. The return of the romantic comedy with Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney did not live up to expectations. The weekend box office was $6 million for Anyone But You, which is less than the films Kate and Leopold, How Do You Know, and Did You Hear. The good news is that Anyone But You cost less than the cheapest of those three releases, even though it may be difficult to get people to see it. Animal opened to $6.4 million in its first three days, and ended up grossing $13.6 million. Dunki has made a total of $4.7 million since it was released on Thursday. After taking in another $3.2 million through the holidays in its fourth weekend, Toho International's Godzilla Minus One has now grossed over 40 million dollars. This has turned into one of the highest-grossing non-English releases ever in North America, and this week it made the short list for visual effects qualification for the Oscars. It has made another $33.8 million internationally to date. Searchlight released last year's The Banshees of Inisherin, which moved into 895 theaters in its third week and made $2.05 million. Poor Things did not have a wide release until its fifth week, but it did have a gross of $3.54 million after 17 days. Andrew Haigh's All of Us Strangers opened to $119,000 in four theaters, and the average was $29,750 per theater. The film has made nearly a million dollars in its first 11 days and will be expanding further. The Zone of Interest from A 24 is expected to gross around $350,000 through Christmas, while the release of Memory from Ketchup Entertainment grossed $36,500 in two theaters. The full list of box office results was published in December.
Thirty-six percent of the total is from Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
$18 million (3-day) / $28 million (4-day) is the total.
The color purple has a total of $18 million.
There was an increase in migration from 2023 to 2023, with a total of $17.5 million.
$5 million three days, $8 million four days, and $8 million total.
The Iron Claw cost $5 million in 3 days and $6 million in 4 days.
The Ceasefire cost $5.3 million in 3 days and $6.6 million in 4 days.
The Boys in the Boat cost $0 for three days and $5 million for four days.
Dunki (2023) has a total of $3.7 million.
The Boy and the Heron had a total of $30.1 million.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes cost $3.05 million for three days and $4 million for four days.
Each week on Business First AM, there is an evaluation of box office by the man.
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