Box Office: 'Wonka' Tops Weekend With $43M Overseas as 'Poor Things' Scores $644,000 in Nine Theaters

'The Boy and the Heron' was tops in North America with $12.8 million as 'Godzilla Minus One' extends its domestic theatrical run

‘Wonka’ image courtesy of Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery went a little early overseas with Wonka, earning a global chart-topping $43.2 million in 37 markets including the United Kingdom ($11.1 million) and Mexico ($5.2 million). $2.3 million of that came from Imax, with like-for-like market comparisons running 95% ahead of Paddington (which ended with $252 million global), 77% ahead of Mary Poppins Returns ($350 million cume) and 50% ahead of The Greatest Showman (which legged out to $435 million). That’s a very promising start for the Timothée Chalamet-led prequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The reviews (83% fresh and 7.5/10 on Rotten Tomatoes) are solid for the $125 million-budgeted musical. Hopes are high that the Paul King-directed fantasy will leg out as this season’s Sing 2 regardless of whether Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom becomes this season’s -- relatively speaking -- Spider-Man No Way Home. 

With another weekend of zero (0.00) new wide releases of note from the Hollywood studios, demographically specific event films, small and large, again dominated the domestic box office. Tops was Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron, which earned a terrific $12.8 million amid rave reviews (95% and 8.6/10 from Rotten Tomatoes) and an A- from CinemaScore. The expectedly fantastical and existential fever dream of a movie, which had me wondering if Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid was a live-action, R-rated Miyazaki riff, already earned $84 million overseas heading into the weekend. If this really is Hayao Miyazaki’s final animated feature – he initially announced his retirement a decade ago with The Wind Also Rises – then at least (to paraphrase Anna and the Apocalypse) he’s giving us a hell of a show.

‘The Boy and the Heron,’ image courtesy of GKIDS

The weebs inherit the Earth?

 The notion of an anime film being tops at the weekend box office isn’t unusual in the last few years. To wit, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero topped with $21 million amid a near-barren August weekend in 2022. Demon Slayer The Movie was tops on its first Friday and barely came in under Mortal Kombat in April of 2021, with both films earning around $21 million amid the first leg of a COVID-era theatrical recovery. Heck, once upon a time, Pokémon: The First Movie (Mewtwo Strikes Back if you’re nasty) earned a jaw-dropping $10 million on its first Wednesday in November of 1999 on its way to a $53 million Wed-Sun debut. However, this is the first time an original Japanese anime film has topped the domestic box office.  

We may be on the precipice of a generation’s worth of franchise films made by filmmakers inspired by anime. This year’s Creed III was filled with visual nods and thematic homages to the animated melodramas on which director Michael B. Jordan grew up, and Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes plays partially aimed at so-called “weebs.” Just as the last decade’s worth of big movies (Sucker Punch, John Wick, Edge of Tomorrow, Tenet, etc.) from filmmakers young enough to have grown up on video games, the next wave may be comparatively anime-inspired. That’s unquestionably preferable to franchises inspired/trying to explicitly evoke the previous generations’ blockbusters. As someone with only a passing knowledge of anime, I’m quite excited to see many big movies with visuals and tropes that are comparatively “new to me.” 

The next closest thing to a new wide release was Bleecker Street’s release of a filmed performance of Waitress. The Sara Bareilles-starring stage adaptation of the Keri Russell-starring dramedy (a 2007 film directed by Adrienne Shelly which was released posthumously after the filmmaker was murdered in her own home by a stranger) opened this past Thursday. The Fathom Events limited engagement earned a $3.24 million Fri-Sun part of a $3.9 million Thurs-Sun cume in 1,214 theaters, with at least one more day of screenings. Disney put the original Die Hard back into theaters for the holidays, including in some non-Imax PLF auditoriums. It grossed $923,000 for the weekend, giving it a $85 million domestic cume (around $209 million adjusted). Maybe Warner Bros. Discovery can do likewise for their summer-released Christmas classic, Batman Returns.

Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things,’ courtesy of Searchlight

Poor Things scores rich limited debut

Disney launched Searchlight Pictures’ Poor Things into nine theaters in advance of a Dec. 22 wide expansion. The bonkers-bananas riff on Frankenstein earned $644,000 for a $71,555 per-theater average. That’s better than the $50k per-theater average for Everything, Everywhere All at Once in its ten-screen debut in early 2022. Among platform launches for 2023, it’s behind only Beau is Afraid ($80k per theater in four theaters) and Asteroid City ($142k per in six theaters). Of course, it’s not like Beau is Afraid ($8 million domestic cume) or Bottoms (which nabbed a $50k per-theater debut in ten theaters earlier this summer before ending up with $12 million) rocked the box office overall, which is often the point with a platform debut. At worst, you get at least one week’s worth of positive box office spin. 

Still, with rave reviews (93% and 8.8/10 from Rotten Tomatoes) and white-hot Oscar buzz for Emma Stone and writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things is arguably among the most commercial of this season’s awards contenders. It's a visually scrumptious and laugh-out-loud hysterical coming-of-age melodrama. It's the best comedy of the year give or take Joy Ride. Save for the onscreen sexual content it’s as much of a mainstream crowdpleaser as The Favourite. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get overwhelmed by the year-end biggies (Aquaman 2, Color Purple, Anyone But You, Migration, etc.). Maybe it, and the equally terrific Jeffrey Wright-starring comedy American Fiction (which platforms on Dec. 15), should have gone wide earlier instead of waiting until the 22nd. At least those getting movie gift cards for Christmas won’t be lacking for options. 

Godzilla Minus One, courtesy of Toho International

Godzilla Minus One isn’t leaving theaters anytime soon

In holdover news, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes continued to be, mostly by default, the event movie of the season. Lionsgate's surprisingly good adaptation of the Suzanne Collins-penned prequel novel earned another $9.4 million (-33%) over its fourth weekend. Smaller box office aside, I can’t find another YA title opening in that key pre-Thanksgiving slot (the various Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films, the various Hunger Games and Twilight Saga flicks, Frozen II, etc.) that has held this well. The Rachel Zegler/Tom Blyth dystopian action drama crossed $135 million domestic on Sunday, already a strong 3x multiplier after a $45 million debut. It’s still aiming for a domestic finish closer to $160 million than $150 million. The $100 million-budgeted flick has already earned around $275 million worldwide. I’m happy to eat a little crow after the lower-than-hoped debut. 

Toho International’s Godzilla Minus One expanded to 2,540 theaters amid strong buzz, rave reviews and comparatively kaiju-sized box office. Takashi Yamazaki’s spectacular monster melodrama earned another $8.34 million (-27%) in weekend two for a $25.3 million ten-day total. It also made the Academy's first shortlist for the Best Visual Effects Oscar. May it succeed where Terrifier 2 failed. Oh, and it’ll remain in theaters past Dec. 15. At a normal rate of descent, it’ll end up with around $42 million domestic, behind (among non-English flicks) only Instructions Not Included ($44 million in 2013), Parasite ($53 million in 2019), Hero ($54 million in 2004), Life is Beautiful ($57 million) and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon ($128 million in 2000). It has earned 23% of its business in large-screen formats, helping Imax top $1 billion globally for the year. 

The rest of the story

DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls Band Together earned another $6.2 million (-21%) weekend and $83 million domestic and $173 million global cume That’s no king’s ransom for the $95 million-budgeted threequel, but A) it’s obviously better than Walt Disney’s Wish and B) it’s a remarkable performance for a franchise whose previous entry mostly skipped theaters (for obvious Covid-related reasons).  Illumination’s original Migration earned $6.5 million in its first overseas debuts prior to a Dec. 22 domestic launch. AMC’s Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce fell hard, earning $5 million (-77%) on weekend two for a $28 million ten-day cume. It’s a self-distributed concert flick with minimal marketing, so it’s still a hit. Recall that Taylor Swift’s film got lots more free media attention, and even much of the pre-release news for Renaissance centered on Swift showing up to the premiere.  

Disney’s Wish continued to crash, earning $5.3 million (-31%) on weekend three for a $50 million domestic and $105 million worldwide total. Sony’s theatrical release of Apple’s Napoleon will earn $4.2 million (-42%) in weekend three for a $53.1 million domestic and $170.8 million. Is it “fair” that Napoleon and Killers of the Flower Moon ($67 million domestic and $155.5 million worldwide) are being treated as relative successes while Wish and The Marvels ($82 million domestic and around $200 million global) get slammed as company-imperiling flops? Nope, but the Disney films were produced to profit in theaters while the Scorsese and Scott epics were not. If giant tech companies continue to be fine with spending $100-$200 million on big movies whose theatrical existence may boost their streaming performance, well, onward and upward.  

The 3.5-hour. ultraviolent crime epic Animal will have around $11.5 million by Sunday, following a $2.275 million (-65%) second weekend. We’ve seen a handful of “big” Indian actioners end up over/under $15 million. That RRR was treated as an event unto itself – quality notwithstanding – was indicative of it being the first such film for a deluge of non-Indian film critics and pundits. However, its domestic performance is merely on par with the sub-genre. Angel Studios’ The Shift will have a solid $8.5 million after ten days, while John Woo’s disappointing Silent Night will have just $5.84 million likewise. Finally, A24’s Dream Scenario will have $4.9 million after 31 days, quietly becoming one of Nicolas Cage’s third biggest-grossing live-action *star vehicle* (after The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Left Behind) in a generation.