“Wonder Woman 1984” topped the national box office charts for the third consecutive weekend, without much competition. The superhero sequel raised $ 3 million between Friday and Sunday, bringing its total in the United States and Canada to $ 32.6 million. Abroad, the film grossed $ 4.7 million, for an international mark of $ 98.8 million.
With $ 131 million in global box office revenue, the “Wonder Woman” sequel surpassed most other releases of the pandemic era. However, this does not make up for the powerful $ 200 million production budget, which means that Gal Gadot’s last DC hero performance will almost certainly lose money to the studio. However, Warner Bros. has already given the go-ahead for a third film with Gadot and director Patty Jenkins on board. The comic book adaptation was released simultaneously on HBO Max in an effort to boost subscribers to the streaming service. It is unclear how many HBO Max users watched the film, although the company praised the record audience. In two weeks, “Wonder Woman 1984” will leave HBO Max and will only be available to be watched in theaters until it reaches its traditional home entertainment window. He is expected to return to the streaming platform a few months later.
A surprising bright spot for the Amazon warrior was Canada, where only 5% of cinemas are open and HBO Max is not available. Warners released the film simultaneously in all available theaters and on premium video-on-demand, a rare strategy that would not have been tolerated by filmmakers in pre-pandemic times. Even more unprecedented, the studio reported tangible digital sales, something that no Hollywood studio would be willing to share. Canada’s pVOD model resulted in an additional $ 7.2 million in revenue from online platforms such as iTunes and Amazon.
Outside of North America, Disney and Pixar’s “Soul” – which was not a movie theater in the United States to debut on Disney Plus – continues to gain traction at the international box office. The existential family film accumulated US $ 8.9 million in 11 foreign countries, increasing its total abroad to US $ 47.3 million. Chinese cinemas accounted for most of this revenue, with $ 36 million in ticket sales from the Middle Kingdom alone. It is now Pixar’s fourth highest grossing film of all time in China and appears to surpass “Finding Dory” ($ 38.4 million) for third place, after “Coco” and “Incredibles 2”.
With no new releases across the country, a variety of remnants completed the national box office stops. Second, Universal and DreamWorks’ “The Croods: A New Age” grossed $ 1.8 million in its seventh week of release, totaling $ 36.8 million. Internationally, the sequel to “The Croods” exceeded $ 90 million, after adding $ 5.1 million from 17 foreign countries. Its global acquisition is around US $ 127 million. The film is currently available on premium video-on-demand platforms as part of an agreement between Universal and major exhibitors like AMC and Cinemark. Under the pact, the studio can place new titles on digital rental services after 17 days of its debut in the cinema. In return, AMC and Cinemark receive a share of the profits and all open cinemas have new content to show on the big screen.
Another Universal title, “News of the World” took third place with $ 1.2 million. The western drama led by Tom Hanks, directed by Paul Greengrass, debuted on Christmas Day and has grossed $ 7 million so far. Netflix has international rights for “News of the World”.
Sony’s thriller “Monster Hunter” grossed $ 1.1 million, enough to make it to fourth place. After a month in theaters, the video game adaptation with Milla Jovovich generated $ 7.8 million. “Fatale”, a psychological thriller featuring Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy, closed the top five with $ 670,000 in its fourth launch weekend. This totals $ 4 million.
Focus Features’ revenge thriller, “Promising Young Woman,” secured $ 560,000 over the weekend, taking sixth place and totaling $ 2.7 million. Like the sequel to “The Croods” and “News of the World”, the film is under the initial VOD contract from its Universal controller. Directed by Emerald Fennell and starring Carey Mulligan, “Promising young woman” hits home entertainment for a premium price starting January 15th.
Overall, this weekend extends a challenging period for the film industry. With the increase in coronavirus cases, only about 35% of American theaters are receiving customers.