Warner Bros.' Wonka earned $3.5 million from previews across 3,500 locations. Timothée Chalamet's feature film musical is expanding to 4,203 theaters, with a $30 million to $40 million opening planned.
Interestingly, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” opened at the same point in mid-December 2018, scoring $3.5 million in previews on Thursday before dropping to $35 million over three days. The film achieved more than fivefold success at the domestic box office with $190.2 million.
Wonka is one of three major films from Warners that the Burbank studio is expected to take the top three spots at the domestic box office during Christmas week. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” opens next weekend with a four-day forecast of $45 million to $50 million and “The Color Purple” opens Dec. 25 with an opening forecast of $8 million.
Wonka is arguably the first Hollywood tentpole to roll out a fire-breathing marketing campaign six weeks in advance. Other films like Lionsgate's The Hunger Game: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, despite having a tentative agreement between SAG and AFTRA, only had about a week to announce their last-minute cast after the actors' strike ended November. Disney's “The Marvels” had two days with the cast before the premiere.
Wonka is 83% fresh, according to critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience early exits on Comscore/Screen Engine's PostTrak are 84% positive and 63% definitely recommend with 5 stars from parents and children under 12. Last night's audience was 52% male, 48% female, 33% male over 25, and 30% male over 25. Women over 25, 22% women under 25 and 16% men under 25.
After Chalamet's Best Actor Oscar nomination for Call Me by Your Name in 2018, there was a mad push in Hollywood to make him a box office star. Warner Bros./Legendary's Dune remains its top U.S. opener with $41 million; This picture's daytime theatrical debut sees HBO Max realize its full commercial potential. Multiple sources believe that “Dune: Part Two” on the first weekend of March 2024 will be the deciding factor that will finally get the year going.
Elsewhere at the box office, Gkids and Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron grossed $970,000 yesterday, -26% from Wednesday, for a first week of $18 million from 2,205 theaters. The Hayao Miyazaki-directed animated film is expected to drop about 50% this weekend at around $6 million.
“Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” in 3,665 theaters grossed $830,000 on its fourth Thursday, -12% from Wednesday, for a fourth week of $13.1 million and a total of $139.4 million.
Toho's “Godzilla Minus One,” booked in 2,540 theaters, grossed $750,000 on its second Thursday, -22% from Wednesday, and ended Week 2 with $12.3 million and a running cume of 29 .3 million US dollars.
Fathom opened “Christmas With the Chosen” in 2,128 theaters on Tuesday, grossing $689,000 on its opening day, $486,000 on Wednesday and $560,000 on Thursday, for a total of $1.7 million.
AMC's “Renaissance: A Beyonce Movie” returned yesterday for the third time on Thursday after taking a break from Monday to Wednesday, bringing in $485,000, bringing its running total to $29 million.