Box Office Report: Warner Bros. Reigns With ‘Aquaman’, ‘Wonka’, And ‘The Color Purple’

Box Office analysis is provided by Daniel Garris of BoxOfficeReport.com.

4-Day Christmas Weekend Estimates - December 22nd, 2023 to December 25th, 2023:

4-Day Weekend Written Update:
Warner Bros.'s The Color Purple led the way at the Christmas Day box office on Monday with an estimated $18.15 million. The anticipated Blitz Bazawule directed musical also ended up in third place for the entire four-day holiday weekend with just one day of grosses. With the additions of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Wonka, Warner Bros. had the top three movies at the domestic box office on Christmas Day and over the four-day holiday frame as well. The Color Purple registered the second largest unadjusted opening day gross ever for a Christmas Day release, behind only 2009's Sherlock Holmes ($24.61 million) and just ahead of 2012's Les Misérables ($18.11 million). The Color Purple had major appeal with African-American moviegoers, as African-American audiences represented an estimated 65 percent of this weekend's overall audience for the film. The Color Purple has gone over well with critics and also looks to be going over very well with audiences given the film's strong A rating on CinemaScore and current 94 percent Verified Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes.

As mentioned, Warner Bros. also took second and third place on Christmas Day. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom grossed an estimated $10.60 million on Christmas Monday. Revised respective three-day and four-day estimated starts for the film stand at $27.70 million and $38.30 million. Wonka followed closely behind on Monday with an estimated $10.30 million for the day. Revised respective three-day and four-day weekend estimates for Wonka stand at $18.05 million and $28.35 million. Through Monday, the estimated eleven-day domestic total for Wonka stands at a healthy $85.85 million. Internationally, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has grossed $94.9 million through Monday, for a global take of $133.2 million. With $177.6 million internationally through Monday, the current global haul for Wonka stands at $263.5 million.

Amazon MGM Studios' The Boys in the Boat started out in fourth place on Christmas Monday with a stronger than expected $5.71 million, while the $2.88 million opening day performance of NEON's Ferrari was good enough for sixth place for the day. The opening day grosses for both films include preview grosses. The opening day performances of both films were helped out by the decision to open on Christmas Day, especially in the case of The Boys in the Boat. The opening day audience for The Boys in the Boat skewed significantly towards older moviegoers, as an estimated 66 percent of the film's audience was over the age of 35 (with 38 percent of the film's audience being over the age of 55). Critical reviews for the George Clooney directed The Boys in the Boat have been mixed, but the film looks to be going over far better with audiences after receiving a strong A rating on CinemaScore. On the average, critical reviews for the Michael Mann directed Ferrari have been good, but not great, and the film looks to be going over similarly with audiences after receiving a respectable B rating on CinemaScore.

As for some of this weekend's other new releases, Universal's Migration placed in fifth on Christmas Monday with $5.36 million. Over the three-day weekend Migration placed in third with $12.45 million and over the four-day frame Migration took fourth place with a four-day start of $17.81 million. Sony's Anyone But You took in an estimated $2.05 million on Christmas Day to place in seventh for the day (revised respective three-day and four-day weekend estimates stand at $6.00 million and $8.05 million). A24's The Iron Claw placed in eighth on Monday with $1.93 million (respective three-day and four-day weekend actuals for the film are $4.87 million and $6.80 million). Moksha Movies & Prathyangira Cinemas' release of Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire grossed an estimated $6.6 million over the four-day frame.

3-Day Weekend Estimates Written Update:
Warner Bros.'s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom led the way over Christmas weekend with updated respective three-day and four-day estimates of $27.70 million and $40.00 million. The pricey Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom didn't come close to the $67.87 million three-day start of 2018's Aquaman ($72.57 million when including sneak previews), but that had been widely expected and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was able to open in line with its scaled back consensus expectations. The James Wan directed Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom represents the second of three December releases for Warner Bros. this year, following Wonka and just days ahead of the highly anticipated launch of The Color Purple (which opens on Christmas Day). Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom also represents the last DCEU film before the DCEU transitions into the upcoming DCU, and given the performance of this year's four DCEU films (Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash & Blue Beetle being the other three) there is little doubt that the upcoming transition limited demand for the final four DCEU films. Poor critical reviews didn't help matters for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom this weekend. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom does look to be going over better with audiences than it has with critics after receiving a B rating on CinemaScore, though that rating is relatively low for a comic book based film on CinemaScore.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom did perform better internationally this weekend with an estimated start of $80.1 million from 73 international markets. That places the global start for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom at $107.8 million through Sunday. The international start for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was led by the film's $30.4 million start in China (which represented the largest debut for a comic book based film in China during 2023). Additional international starts by market for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom this weekend included $5.0 million in Mexico, $3.6 million in Indonesia, $3.2 million in France, $3.0 million in the United Kingdom, $2.9 million in South Korea, $2.8 million in Brazil, $2.5 million in Germany, $2.3 million in Taiwan, $2.1 million in Malaysia, $2.1 million in Thailand and $1.4 million in Spain. Through Christmas day, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has grossed an estimated $14.0 million from global IMAX screens ($4.1 million in North America, $6.0 million in China and $3.9 million internationally outside of China).

Fellow Warner Bros. release Wonka continued to perform well this weekend with updated respective three-day and four-day estimates of $18.05 million and $28.00 million. Wonka declined a sizable 53.7 percent over the three-day frame, but that also represented a respectable second weekend hold, especially given Christmas Eve falling on Sunday and that Wonka lost its IMAX screens to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom this weekend. Through Monday, the estimated eleven-day domestic take for Wonka stands at $85.50 million. The well-received Wonka will look to hold up well through the rest of the holiday season and into January.

Internationally, Wonka grossed an estimated $33.2 million this weekend from 77 international markets. Through Sunday, respective totals for Wonka stand at $171.3 million internationally and at $246.9 million globally. Estimated totals by international market for Wonka through Sunday include a healthy $38.1 million in the United Kingdom, $15.3 million in Mexico, $9.7 million in Germany, $9.5 million in Australia, $8.9 million in Japan, $8.8 million in France, $8.1 million in Spain, $6.3 million in China, $6.1 million in Brazil, $6.0 million in Italy, $3.7 million in the Netherlands and $2.7 million in Poland.

Universal and Illumination's Migration started out with updated respective three-day and four-day weekend estimates of $12.48 million and $17.50 million. The Benjamin Renner directed Migration opened in line with expectations and the hope is the film will hold up extremely well going forward, which is often the case for animated films released during the Christmas season. As is normally the case for films from Illumination, Migration also carried a smaller than usual price-tag for a high-profile computer animated film. The four-day weekend start for Migration was just below the $18.53 million grossed by Universal's Puss in Boots: The Last Wish in its first five days last Christmas, though Migration isn't expected to hold up as well as Puss in Boots: The Last Wish did. Migration has gone over fairly well with critics and the film looks to be going over better with audiences after receiving a strong A rating on CinemaScore. Internationally, Migration grossed an estimated $7.9 million this weekend from 43 international markets. That places the film's international total at $22.0 million and global total through Sunday at $34.4 million. This weekend's international performance for Migration was led by a $2.0 million debut in Germany. Additional international totals by market for Migration through Sunday include $4.2 million in France, $3.6 million in Mexico, $2.5 million in Italy and $1.8 million in China.

Sony's Anyone But You started out with updated respective three-day and four-day grosses of $6.00 million and $8.00 million. The R-rated Will Gluck directed romantic comedy starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell opened on the high end of its modest pre-release expectations. Critical reviews for Anyone But You have been mixed, but the film looks to be going over better with audiences after receiving a solid B+ rating on CinemaScore.

The updated three-day weekend estimate for Moksha Movies & Prathyangira Cinemas' release of Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire stands at $5.6 million. The Prashanth Neel directed Telugu-language action film from India performed nicely, especially given the film's modest location count of 802 locations. A number of films from India have performed well in North America throughout 2023, with Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire having clearly continued that trend this weekend. Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire did display very significant initial front-loading this weekend, as the film's estimated $2.6 million Thursday preview gross represented 46.4 percent of this weekend's overall three-day weekend gross.

Meanwhile, A24's The Iron Claw grossed $4.86 million over the three-day frame. Prior to the release of the film's actual three-day weekend gross on Monday, respective three-day and four-day studio estimates for The Iron Claw were $5.06 million and $7.53 million (an updated four-day estimate wasn't made for The Iron Claw on Monday). The modestly budgeted Sean Durkin directed sports film about the Von Erich wrestling family is off to an encouraging start thus far. Critical reviews for The Iron Claw have been good and the film also looks to be going over well with audiences after receiving a healthy A- rating on CinemaScore.

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