OPENINGS: SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 3 (Sega/Paramount) was within expectations at $62M, although that was lower than the $72.2M for Sonic 2 in 2022, and while Sonic 2 had a 2% Friday-to-Saturday gain, Sonic 3 slumped by 24% on Saturday. There’s every chance, though, that Sonic 3 will beat its predecessor’s $190.9M in the US, since the spectacularly lucrative holiday period is just beginning. Sonic 3 won’t truly begin its international rollout until Christmas day, and has $1.4M in preliminary engagements.
There was a lot less interest in MUFASA: THE LION KING (Disney) than its studio had hoped, and it was a huge disappointment at $35M, down an alarming 82% from the $191.8M launch of 2019’s Lion King remake. Mufasa will also reap the benefits of the holiday season, but even so a 50% drop from Lion King‘s $543.6M US total may well be ahead. As with Lion King, Mufasa found much more welcome overseas, with $87.2M, but that number was again far below Lion King‘s $269M international start. (Notably, Lion King arrived in China with $98M, while Mufasa squeaked to just $7.8M there.)
The weekend’s asterisk goes to HOMESTEAD (Angel), which claimed a $6.1M “weekend” that included screenings through the entire previous week. This was Angel’s most determined attempt to recapture the box office magic of Sound of Freedom, by playing up the action movie elements more than the Christianity, but it doesn’t seem to be working. It’s US-only.
HOLDOVERS: In its head-to-head family movie battles with Moana 2, up to now WICKED (Universal) has been stronger on weekdays, only to fall behind on the weekend. This time, though, Wicked dipped 40% to $13.5M in its 5th weekend, enough to give it a narrow victory. The holidays may well push the US total to $450M. Wicked remains much weaker overseas, though, with $187.4M after a $12.6M weekend in 81 markets.
MOANA 2 (Disney) was hit harder by the new family arrivals, down 51% to $13.1M in its 4th weekend. It’s also gunning for $450M in the US, and its international total is $431.1M after a $32.8M weekend in 52 territories.
GLADIATOR 2 (Paramount) lost 42% to $4.5M in its 5th weekend, and ma reach $175M in the US. It has $262.3M overseas after a $5.4M weekend, but even a $500M worldwide total may not pay for its enormous costs.
The second weekends of KRAVEN THE HUNTER (Marvel/TSG/Columbia/Sony) and LORD OF THE RINGS: WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM (New Line/Warners) were both ugly, with 72% plunges to, respectively, $3.1M and $1.3M. Kraven may not get to $40M in the US (below Madame Web‘s $43.8M and Morbius‘s $73.9M), while Rohirrim may end up below $15M. Internationally, Kraven has $25.4M and Rohirrim has $8M.
LIMITED RELEASE: THE BRUTALIST (A24) debuted at 4 NY/LA arthouses and delivered a $67K weekend per-theater average, particularly impressive since the extremely lengthy running time limits the number of daily shows. THE ROOM NEXT DOOR (Sony Classics) averaged a quiet $18K at 6. THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (Goldwyn) averaged $4K at 4. NICKEL BOYS (Orion/MGM/Amazon) expanded to 5 with a $12K average.
NEXT WEEKEND: Christmas Day brings A COMPLETE UNKNOWN (Searchlight/Disney), NOSFERATU (Focus/Universal), THE FIRE INSIDE (MGM/Amazon), and BABYGIRL (A24), as well as the limited release of BETTER MAN (Paramount).
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