SATURDAY AM: Refresh for updates Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he’s delivering the motion picture industry a $9 billion-plus year at the domestic box office; a feat many thought was unimaginable with the lack of a mega-tentpole over the holiday with a Q4 impacted by the double strikes.
But it was a diversified crop of family and adult films which got us there including the Warner Bros.’ trifecta of Wonka (which is leading the 4-day New Year’s Box Office with $33M), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (4-day $26M) and The Color Purple ($16.2M 4-day); as well as adult movies like The Boys in the Boat ($11.6M 4-day) and even YA romantic comedy, Anyone But You ($11.3M 4-day).
As we told you last week, 2024 is bound to shed about $1 billion for an $8 billion take due to a lower inventory of wide releases and Q1 sans several tentpoles.
We’ll have more granular on the major studios throughout the long weekend, but hands down, without any question, Universal is winning the domestic box office with $1.93 billion by EOD Sunday, +18% from 2022 off such hits as Super Mario Bros ($574.9M, 2nd highest grossing film of the year), Oppenheimer ($326M), Fast X ($150.1M) and Five Nights at Freddy’s ($137.2M).
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