‘Moana 2’, ‘Wicked’ & ‘Gladiator II’ Driving Record Post-Thanksgiving Frame Near $132M – Sunday AM Update
SUNDAY AM WRITETHRU: Refresh for chart and more analysis: What’s the trick to keeping the post-Thanksgiving period alive? Great holdovers from the holiday weekend before.
One of the year’s dullest box office periods historically will not be the case in 2024, with all films grossing $132 million, the best this frame has ever seen. That surpasses the previous record set in 2018 when all movies totaled $120M. And that’s because this weekend is powered by Moana 2 ($52M, still a record for a No. 1 movie in this corridor), Wicked ($34.8M, higher than the $32M+ we spotted) and Gladiator II ($12.4M).
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More to celebrate: Moana 2 at $600M worldwide just passed the lifetime global of the first movie’s $582M.
It’s not like any major studio dared to launch a tentpole this weekend, a la Warner Bros back in 2003 with Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai ($24.2M). Genre has typically worked here in a niche form, but not this year as A24’s Rachel Zegler-led Y2K is blipping out with a $2.1M opening and a C- CinemaScore. While arthouse distribs like Neon and A24 have low thresholds for success, and this Kyle Mooney-directed horror comedy cost under $15M, $2M+ isn’t anything to brag about — if it gets there. And it’s certainly not good for Zegler. Over the summer, Neon opened the Hunter Schafer movie Cuckoo to $3M, with a $6.2M final. The point is that Zegler has been in bigger movies a la The Hunger Games prequel and the Oscar-winning West Side Story; meaning she’s the poster face to sell those films. The movie is booked at 2,108 theaters, and if there was a time to release this film, it was now as there won’t be any screens come Christmas with Mufasa and Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Social media diagnostics on Y2K per RelishMix had a reach of 35.1M across TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X and Facebook — 21% below the pre-opening social media stats of first installment horror movies. Y2K‘s social media universe is less than Cuckoo (52.9M), Tarot (88.6M, $6.5M opening, $18.7M final) and Neon’s indie smash Longlegs (135.1M), which the Film Independent Spirit Awards greatly dissed this week. Some of the negative chatter RelishMix spotted for Y2K on social included those “unimpressed by the style or plot with fans who express their struggle with their loyalty of A24. ‘A24 just continues to miss lately. This is some stuff I’d expect from Blumhouse. NEON has taken the throne for coolest studio I’m afraid.’ With a narrative ingrained in the nostalgia of the ’90s, others are disappointed with its creative decisions: ‘When will filmmakers understand that a ’90s/2000s project should never be filmed on digital.'”
Exits on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak were also bad for the Mooney movie at 65% positive and a 50% recommend. It was overall male leaning at 58%, with the 18- to 24-year-olds at 35% and the 25-34s at 42%. Diversity demos were 50% Caucasian, 27% Latino and Hispanic, 10% Black, 9% Asian American and 5% Native American/other. Any business for Y2K is coming from the West, East and South Central with LA’s AMC The Grove the top grossing venue with a paltry $8K.
Indian sequel Pushpa 2: The Rule at 1,245 theaters saw a five-day total of $9.3M as of Sunday morning. The movie is rallying in Dallas, Toronto, Austin, DC, Charlotte, Seattle, NYC, Atlanta, San Francisco and Chicago. The three-day here at $4.88M is 270% above opening of Pushpa 1: The Rise, which opened to $1.32M on December 17, 2021 via Hamsini Entertainment.
Doing double the amount of business than Y2K is Paramount’s Imax rerelease of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, with $4.4M at 165 locations with a massive $26,800 theater average, arguably the best domestic rerelease (non-awards related) start for the filmmaker. Imax reports that the Oscar-winning movie sold out 10 select locations nationwide where it was presented in Imax 70mm film. We often hear news about Nolan rereleases in Imax (e.g., Tenet), but then there aren’t any grosses reported. It pays to double down on Nolan rereleases, because clearly there’s some sort of business here.
How the large-format shakes out this weekend: PLFs are still being split by Moana 2 and Wicked and some for Gladiator II as well. Imax auditoriums are showing all three with the addition of Interstellar, of course.
In regards to how business went for these films in Imax:
Moana 2 earned $1M in Imax for a domestic running total of $7.7M.
Wicked also made $1M in Imax domestic for a running total of $12.2M.
Gladiator II grossed $570K for a $16M running cume in the large format exhibitor’s auditoriums this to date.
Vertical’s Jude Law 1970s crime thriller The Order is doing around $878K this weekend at 603 theaters, with Briarcliff Entertainment’s Frank Grillo-led Werewolves seeing $1.1M at 1,351 sites. Both are falling flat. The Justin Kurzel-directed The Order follows Law as an FBI agent displaced in the Pacific Northwest. All seems quiet, however, there’s a string of bank robberies orchestrated by a domestic terrorist group.
CHART UPDATING, updated figures indicated by inclusion of Saturday and Sunday broken out:
Moana 2 (Dis) 4200 theaters, Fri $11.7M (-78%) Sat $23.1M Sun $17.2M 3-day $52M (-63%) Total $300M/Wk 2
Through 12 days, Moana 2 is pacing 22% behind Inside Out 2 which finaled at $652.9M, still the highest grossing movie of 2024 YTD.Wicked (Uni) 3,885 (-3) theaters, Fri $9.55M Sat $15.1M Sun $10.1M 3-day $34.8M (-57%),Total $320.5M/Wk 3
Gladiator 2 (Par) 3,440 (-140) theaters, Fri $3.6M (-71%) Sat $5.3M Sun $3.5M 3-day $12.4M (-60%) Total $132.7M/Wk 3
Red One (AMZ MGM) 3150 (-194) theaters, Fri $1.69M (-65%) Sat $3.1M Sun $2.1M 3-day $7M (-45%) Total $85.7M/Wk 4
Pushpa 2: The Rule (Prath) 1,245 theaters, Fri $1.5M Sat $2M Sun $1.3M 3-day $4.88M, Total $9.3M/Wk 1
Interstellar (re) (Par) 165 theaters, Fri $1.37M, Sat $1.7M Sun $1.3M 3-day $4.4M/Wk 1
Solo Leveling-Reawakening (Crunch/Sony) 846 theaters, Fri $1M Sat $765K Sun $545K 3-day $2.4M /Wk 1
We’re hearing OK numbers for this Crunchyroll title in San Diego, LA, NYC, DC, San Antonio, Dallas, and Las Vegas. The movie is a recap of the first season with a sneak peek at the first two episodes of season 2. Blurb: Over a decade has passed since a pathway called a “gate” which connects this world and another dimension suddenly appeared, and people with superhuman powers called “hunters” have been awakened. Hunters use their superhuman powers to conquer dungeons inside the gates to make a living, and Sung Jinwoo, a hunter of the lowest rank, is considered the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind. One day, he encounters a double dungeon, a high-level dungeon hidden inside a low-level one. In front of a severely wounded Jinwoo, a mysterious quest window pops up. On the verge of death, Jinwoo decides to take on the quest, which makes him the only person who can level up.Y2K (A24) 2,108 theaters, Fri $923K Sat $692K Sun $498K 3-day $2.1M/Wk 1
For King + Country’s A Drummer Boy Christmas Live (Fath) 1,454 theaters, Th $561K, Fri $609K, Sat $804K Sun $643K 3-day $2.05M, Total $2.6M/Wk 1
Best Christmas Pageant Ever (LG) 1,633 (-146) theaters, Fri $430K (-68%) Sat $645K Sun $450K 3-day $1.52M (-57%) Total $34.4M/Wk 5
Notables:
The Order (Vert) 603 theaters, Fri $444K Sat $250K Sun $188K, 3-day $878K/Wk 1
Laufey’s A Night at the Symphony: Hollywood Bowl (Traf) 406 theaters, Fri $488K, Sat $89K Sun $268K, 3-day $845k/Wk 1
Queer (A24) 47 theaters (+40) Fri $162K, Sat $131K Sun $112K, 3-day $405,9K (+102%), Total $866,5K /Wk 2
Anora (NEON) 123 (-107) theaters Fri $55K Sat $77K Sun $54K 3-day $186K (-52%), Total $13.1M/Wk 8
FRIDAY PM: For all the chatter in years past about people getting distracted by holiday stuff, if there’s one thing that’s on their list this weekend, it’s going to the movies.
Disney’s Moana 2 will see a second weekend of $55M-$60M, the most any No. 1 movie has seen during the historically ratcheted down post-Thanksgiving period. Again, anything over Frozen 2‘s post-Thanksgiving frame take of $35.1M back in 2019 is a record No. 1 take for this frame. This is after a second Friday that’s in the vicinity of $11M-$12M, which will get the sequel past the 2016’s original’s final stateside cume of $248.7M. Second frame is -57% to -60% from pic’s opening weekend of $139.7M.
Both Moana 2 and Wicked are expected to cross $300M this weekend, the latter sooner than the former. The highest grossing Broadway musical of all-time at the domestic box office will hit $300M sometime on Saturday while Moana 2 should cross by EOD Sunday. Moana 2 is booked at 4,200 theaters while Wicked is at 3,885 theaters.
The Jon M. Chu directed Ariana Grande-Cynthia Erivo Wicked is looking at a third Friday of $9.25M, for a third weekend of $31.7M, -61%. As we told you yesterday, Wicked won Thursday and Wednesday over Moana 2. Wicked‘s Thursday number this AM was $4.78M.
Third place goes to Paramount’s Gladiator II at 3,440 theaters with a third Friday of $3.45M at 3,450 locations, $12.3M third weekend, -60%, for a running total of $132.5M.
Making waves in fourth place is Prathyangira Cinemas’ Pushpa 2 – The Rule at 1,245 theaters. The movie, which included Wednesday previews, beat Moana 2 yesterday for second place with $4.5M, the latter settling at $4.2M. Outlook for the Indian action gangster cop sequel is a $5.6M 3-day with a $10.1M four-day run by EOD Sunday.
Fifth goes to the fourth weekend of Amazon MGM Studios’ Red One at 3,150 theaters which is shaping up for a $1.5M Friday and 3-day of $5.5M, -57%, for a running total of $84.2M.
A24’s Kyle Mooney directed, Rachel Zegler starring horror comedy Y2K is eyeing $1.1M today after $300K in previews last night for a $2M+ opening. Yikes, that’s low for the hipster cinema brand. The movie cost under $15M.
Don’t dismiss Paramount’s 10th anniversary re-release of Chistopher Nolan’s Interstellar which at 165 locations is putting up $1.6M today for a $4.77M 3-day; people, that’s a $28,9K theater average. The original Matthew McConaughey movie ended its domestic run at $188M.
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