As a seasoned film critic with decades of experience under my belt, I must say that this week’s box office numbers have left me absolutely spellbound! The sheer magnitude of the earnings is truly a sight to behold and harkens back to the good old days of cinematic glory.
Typically, movies in the domestic market experience significant drops (of 50% or more) after Thanksgiving weekend as people get busy with holiday preparations and upcoming events. However, the massive success of films released during Thanksgiving 2024 set a new record for the biggest post-Thanksgiving box office weekend ever. The release of numerous new wide releases also contributed to this impressive turnout, as audiences were reminded that there’s always something fresh at their local cinemas. In fact, a single movie surpassed $35 million in gross earnings over this specific timeframe for the first time in history!
The honors go to “Moana 2,” which earned another $52 million this week, marking a steeper post-Thanksgiving drop than “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Frozen II,” and the original “Moana.” Interestingly, it also surpasses the post-Thanksgiving declines of “Wish” and “The Good Dinosaur,” which were previously the only Disney Animation titles from modern times (post-“Chicken Little”) to see a 60% or higher drop over this particular weekend.
Despite no one at Disney expressing any complaints, the success of “Moana 2” is quite impressive. In just 12 days after its release, it has already earned an astounding $300 million. Given that it’s likely to maintain its screen presence until New Year’s, there seems to be no ceiling for how high this revenue could climb. A final domestic total of over $500 million isn’t even out of the question for this box office smash.
Over the weekend, the movie Wicked maintained its strong performance at the domestic box office with a gross of $34.85 million, representing a decrease of 58% compared to the previous week. This third-weekend performance is remarkably better than most other fantasy blockbusters that opened just before Thanksgiving. In comparison, Catching Fire saw a 65% drop after Thanksgiving, while its sequels and other films had drops of around 61%. The first two Fantastic Beasts movies also experienced decreases within the 59-61% range, with the two Breaking Dawn films each dropping by 60%. Interestingly, the rate at which Wicked’s box office is declining is comparable to that of films like Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Holdovers, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, and Big Hero 6. These statistics might just come in handy for impressing others at your upcoming New Year’s Eve gathering.
17 days since its debut, “Wicked” has amassed an impressive $320.5 million at the box office. Similar to “Moana 2”, it appears that “Wicked” will maintain its popularity even with the influx of Christmas movie releases. It’s reasonable to expect it to reach approximately $430 million domestically. Both “Moana 2” and “Wicked” have matched the massive single weekend grosses of “$Frozen II” ($35 million) during the post-Thanksgiving period, making them three of the largest weekend earnings ever in this timeframe. Only once before this weekend has a film earned more than $34 million in this particular market segment. This is a testament to the success that occurs when several crowd-pleasing movies are available.
Following on the list was “Gladiator II” with a revenue of $12.4 million and a total domestic collection of $132.7 million. These are quite impressive figures for a contemporary historical film. Meanwhile, the ongoing release from November 2024, titled “Red One“, saw a decrease of 45% and earned another $7 million. With an accumulated $85.7 million to date, it’s expected to surpass the $100 million mark domestically during its entire run. Lastly, the top five was completed by “Pushpa 2: The Rule”, a new blockbuster from India and the weekend’s largest wide release, which brought in $5.9 million over three days. This initial domestic gross has now reached an astounding $10.5 million in just four days!
Over the weekend, the movie “Interstellar” made a grand return to 165 IMAX cinemas, leaving audiences awestruck. With a total gross of $4.4 million, the film averaged an impressive $27,000 per theater. My local Dallas Cinemark even added a late-night 2:00 AM IMAX 70mm show to meet demand! These remarkable figures have boosted the domestic lifetime earnings of this 2014 Christopher Nolan production to $192.4 million. The success of “Interstellar” and its recent re-release of “Coraline” in August suggests a flourishing market for theatrical reissues of cherished films.
Over the weekend following Thanksgiving, there was a significant influx of new movies hitting theaters, each vying for attention at the box office. In fact, I counted no less than seven wide releases (alongside a music documentary showing in 594 theaters), which is quite unusual compared to previous post-Thanksgiving weeks like 2011 and 2018 when both major and independent studios chose not to release any new films.
Among the recent, broad releases, “Solo Leveling -ReAwakening”, the new anime feature, came second in earnings (with Pushpa 2 leading), playing at over 600 locations and making $2.4 million. This translated to a theater average of approximately $2,837. Contrastingly, Y2K, directed by Kyle Mooney and distributed by A24, had a dismal start, earning only $2.11 million from 2,108 theaters, resulting in a per-theater average of just $1,003. Remarkably, this debut was one of the weakest for any movie opening in 2,000+ theaters, even worse than The Front Room’s initial performance in a similar number of theaters.
Despite some adorable viral videos during its launch, the film Y2K was destined to fall short of expectations. The movie’s limited buzz following its SXSW 2024 premiere hinted at a challenging future for this production. In contrast, A24 heavily promoted their November 2024 horror film, Heretic, which boasted a more relatable plotline and a popular actor (Hugh Grant). Some of the marketing strategies for Y2K were also perplexing, like the absence of its young leads on its only poster until three weeks before release. Without a compelling human element or favorable reviews to generate interest, Y2K was always going to struggle in the competitive horror/comedy genre…though this opening is still quite challenging. It’s unfortunate that Rachel Zegler, who deserves more than these flops and constant online criticism (regrettably, she spoke out against Nazi sympathizers on social media, how unkind!).
Over the weekend, “For King + Country: A Drummer Boy Christmas” – a religious concert movie from Fathom Events, raked in $2.05 million and has since earned $2.6 million since its premiere on Thursday. On the other hand, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” declined by 53% and made an additional $1.52 million, totaling $34.49 million so far in the U.S. Despite this, a $40 million target seems unattainable for this family comedy, but it’s still a respectable earning. The next new wide release we have on our list is “Werewolves,” which debuted with only $1.1 million from 1,351 theaters, averaging $814 per theater. It’s great to see more movies hitting the big screen, and we hope that Briarcliff Entertainment can improve their marketing strategies for their upcoming releases.
Following this was “The Order,” which earned $878,000 from 603 cinemas, resulting in a modest $1,456 per screen average. This is a disappointing figure for a movie starring Jude Law on its wide release debut. However, taking into account that distributor Vertical Entertainment has only managed to get seven of their films to exceed $1 million domestically, it could have been less successful. “The Order” will also help ensure that 2024 marks the first time Vertical Entertainment surpasses $10 million at the domestic box office for an entire year.
Are you looking for documentaries focusing on music? You’ve got options like “Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl,” which earned $844,976 in its debut from 144 theaters, averaging an impressive $6,353 per theater. Another choice is “RM: Right People, Wrong Place,” which opened with $598,000 from 594 theaters, yielding a moderate $1,007 per theater average. However, the pre-Thanksgiving release “Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin” saw a massive 76% drop this weekend, making it one of only five wide releases in history to lose 75+% over the post-Thanksgiving period. It grossed $556,570 from 945 theaters (a disappointing $589 per theater average) and currently stands at an $11.2 million 17-day domestic total.
In this frame, the number of screens showing Flow increased to a staggering 375, making it the broadest release I’m aware of from Janus Films. It earned $528,000, equating to a remarkable average of $1,408 per theater and a total domestic gross of $633,337. Currently, it ranks as the fourth-largest release in Janus Films’ history. On the other hand, Queer entered 47 locations and generated $405,910, resulting in an impressive average of $8,636 per theater. To date, it has earned a domestic total of $866,523 and will expand into a wider release this Friday.
The poor performance of “The Return,” a new release starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche as a modern retelling of “The Odyssey,” has once again demonstrated Bleecker Street’s struggles with wide releases. In its debut, it managed to generate just $354,585 from 629 cinemas, equating to a meager $564 per theater average. This disappointing box office figure ranks as one of the weakest wide-release openings of 2024, a title that can undeniably be attributed to Bleecker Street’s lackluster marketing efforts. The studio only recently unveiled the first official “The Return” trailer a mere three weeks prior! It appears that Bleecker Street will continue to carry the unwelcome distinction of being associated with several of this year’s most underperforming wide releases, such as “Rumours,” “Treasure,” and now “The Return.
Over the weekend, “A Real Pain” shed 285 locations and earned $291,000, translating to a disappointing $1,323 per theater average and a domestic total of $6.65 million. The anticipated contender for awards season 2024-2025, “Anora,” experienced a 52% drop this week, bringing in another $186,000 and now standing at a domestic total of $13.1 million. Yet another IFC Films horror production has failed to make an impact. The new release, “Get Away,” premiered in 474 theaters but managed only $101,999 in earnings, equating to a dismal $215 per theater average. It seems that IFC Films and Shudder may need to reassess their strategies for launching these horror movies, despite the recent successes of “Late Night with the Devil” and “In a Violent Nature.
In its fourth week since domestic release, “All We Imagine as Light” saw a reduction of two cinemas and experienced a 38% drop, which is acceptable given it’s post-Thanksgiving timing. The film generated an additional $39,300, bringing its total domestic earnings to $324,414. Janus Films seems to be strategically patient with this highly praised title, and so far, their strategy appears successful. Meanwhile, Paul Schrader’s “Oh, Canada” debuted this weekend with earnings of $33,257 from three theaters, equating to $11,086 per theater. This is one of Kino Lorber’s better recent domestic launches.
Over the weekend, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” earned $25,662 (a 27% decrease compared to last week) across five cinemas, giving an average of $5,132 per venue and a cumulative domestic total of $96,512 over twelve days. Meanwhile, “The End,” another Neon production, struggled in its debut, pulling in only $22,747 from three theaters for an average of $7,582 per screening. Additionally, “The Girl With the Needle” premiered this weekend, taking home $11,488 from two locations, which translates to a per-theater average of $5,744.
One final note: this weekend, Marielle Heller’s Amy Adams movie Nightbitch debuted in theaters. Disney/Searchlight Pictures is not reporting grosses for it. Can we please do something to stop this terrible practice of not reporting box office grosses? It just incentivizes the biggest studios (see: Warner Bros. with Juror No. 2) to dump new release movies and is only done to bolster a studio’s image rather than for any artistic merit. It’s absolutely ridiculous that this data is being kept from people. Anytime corporations try to minimize transparency, that’s a red flag, not to mention a deeply disappointing ending to the Nightbitch saga. First, it got upgraded from a Hulu launch to a theatrical release…now Disney’s burying it. As I said last week, Disney owning an arthouse studio like Searchlight Pictures continues to be a massive problem. It continues to be a terrible proposition for audiences, filmmakers, and theater owners alike.
The top ten movies this weekend grossed an astonishing $123 million, by far the biggest post-Thanksgiving frame in history. That was inevitable simply through Moana 2‘s status as the first Thanksgiving newcomer in history opening over $70 million domestically. When you open that big, it’s going to have a positive rising tide effect on the marketplace. Still, this weekend’s sum is truly impressive and isn’t just because of Moana 2. Wicked, Gladiator II, Pushpa 2, Red One, and Interstellar all pulled their fair share to make this a weekend for the record books.
As a die-hard gamer and movie enthusiast, I’m pumped about the upcoming releases next weekend! We’ve got two exciting titles hitting the screens: “Kraven the Hunter” and “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim”. Although they might not set the box office ablaze, these November 2024 holdovers should still pack a punch, keeping the movie scene buzzing before the December 2024 newbies like “Mufasa: The Lion King”, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”, and “A Complete Unknown” make their debut. With December 2024 promising to end the year on a high note, it’s not unrealistic to expect earnings of over $1 billion for the entire month – a feat that would easily make it the biggest December since theaters closed due to COVID in March 2020. So, folks, grab your popcorn and settle into those plush seats. The movie theaters are here to stay, and Netflix CEOs will just have to deal with it!
Read More
Sorry. No data so far.
2024-12-09 15:15