Paul King's Wonka has been the subject of some controversy in the months leading up to its big screen release, with many wondering if the world really needs a third film based on Roald Dahl's beloved novel. Following suit, it earned some mixed pre-release reactions – with some loving it and some loathing it... but now, the film looks poised to at the very least to be a box office success. In addition to having a solid start domestically, the movie is doing especially well overseas.
The performance of Wonka is one of multiple stories to dig into with this weekend's box office results, so scope out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.
Wonka Is Off To A Solid Start Domestically, But It's Bigger Audience Is Overseas
As early box office numbers roll in (via The Numbers), it appears that Wonka is doing just about expected stateside. Prognostications from last week said that the film was looking at about $40 million in ticket sales from the Unites States and Canada, and the movie has reportedly earned just about a million dollars short of that. In context, that's not too shabby. The production wasn't exactly inexpensive ($125 million, per Deadline), but A) it is now in the Top 20 for opening weekends in 2023, and B) the overseas ticket sales are exceeding predictions.
A $39 million start puts the film on par with Jon Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein's Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ($37.2 million) and Antoine Fuqua's The Equalizer 3 ($34 million), and that puts it on pretty solid footing. Both of those releases ended up making over $90 million domestically, and Wonka has the chance to do even better because of the upcoming holiday and influx of free time for families to go out and see movies. It's not at all unreasonable to think that it could end up making over $100 million before the end of its run in North America.
What's far more significant for Wonka's box office future is what's happening internationally. The aforementioned Dungeons And Dragons and The Equalizer 3 made $114.3 million and $93.4 million overseas... and Wonka has already brought in $112.4 million. Because of publicity and marketing costs, the new musical isn't quite in the black just yet, but it sits in a good position presently having already made $151.4 million worldwide.
How the new movie will compete with the big titles being released in time for Christmas is an interesting question. As far as straight family entertainment goes, Benjamin Renner's Migration from Illumination is on the way, as is James Wan's DC blockbuster Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (which, weirdly enough, is released by Warner Bros. – the same studio as Wonka). Blitz Bazawule's The Color Purple might steal some of the candy-centric movie's musical-loving audience, and adults looking for light and fluffy big screen entertainment will have the option of seeing Will Gluck's Anyone But You.
Its second weekend numbers should tell us a lot about its future, and I'll be back on Christmas Eve to take a look at them.
Hunger Games Holds In Second Place And Is Nearing $300 Million Worldwide
Staying on the subject of films holding on with a firm grip at the box office, let's take a moment to appreciate what Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes has been doing. By its own franchise's standards, the blockbuster prequel had a tepid opening weekend – making $44.6 million in the shadow of the $100-150 million wins from the Jennifer Lawrence-led titles – but it followed up that start with solid numbers and a box office crown during the Thanksgiving holiday. As expected, it got pushed to #2 when Beyonce's Renaissance arrived at the start of the month, but the film has since kept a strong hold on second place.
The Ballad Of Songbirds And Snakes cost less than all of the Hunger Games sequels, with a reported $100 million budget, and the film has to-date earned matching $145 million totals domestically and overseas. The movie is now on the verge of earning over $300 million globally, and it would only be the 21st feature released in 2023 so far to do so.
During a year when massive blockbusters like James Mangold's Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny and Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1 went too big and put themselves in an insurmountable box office hole, the comparative modesty of the latest Hunger Games feature has led to it being a more significant big screen win.
Poor Things Debuts In The Top 10 As The Film Continues To Ride The Hype Train
In last week's box office column, I made special note of Yorgos Lanthimos' Poor Things, despite the fact that it was only playing in nine locations nationwide. Thanks to extreme hype from the fall festivals, the movie put up a terrific $73,470 per theater average – one of the best of 2023. This weekend, the release expanded, and in addition to breaking into the Top 10, the film is once again making a lot of money in all of the places where its playing.
Poor Things is now playing in a total of 82 theaters around the country, and in the last three days, they have each made an average of $15,549 – the best figure of any other title in the Top 10. The release has now doubled its domestic gross, and it seems that the fun is only just beginning.
In a best case scenario, the movie could end up sculpting a box office run similar to what Daniels' Everything Everywhere All At Once did in 2022. Movie fans will remember that the Best Picture-winner built up hype with a slowly expanding release strategy, and while it ultimately never did better than fourth place in the Top 10, it ended its initial big screen run making over $70 million domestically. That would be a dream for Searchlight Pictures, which currently has the $38.5 million success of Mark Mylod's The Menu topping their record books.
Needless to say, it will be a title that I'll be keeping a close eye on as we get through the end of the 2023 movie calendar and into the release schedule for 2024.
That does it for this week's box office column, but I'll be back next Sunday here on CinemaBlend to breakdown the numbers for the many aforementioned titles coming out on Friday.
