Worldwide box office December 29-31
| Rank | Film (distributor) | 3-day (world) | Cume (world) | 3-day (int’l) | Cume (int’l) | Territories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Shining For One Thing (various) | $77.1m | $77.1m | $77.1m | $77.1m | 3 |
| 2. | Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom (Warner Bros) | $70m | $251.4m | $50.5m | $173.6m | 78 |
| 3. | Wonka (Warner Bros) | $63m | $379m | $39.1m | $244.4m | 78 |
| 4. | Migration (Universal) | $34.3m | $100.7m | $17.1m | $46.4m | 69 |
| 5. | Johnny Keep Walking! (various) | $25.8m | £32.3m | $25.8m | $32.3m | 1 |
| 6. | I Did It My Way (various) | $25.7m | $26m | $25.7m | $26m | 1 |
| 7. | The Goldfinger (various) | $23m | $23m | $23m | $23m | 8 |
| 8. | Wish (Disney) | $16.7m | $176.4m | $15.4m | $115.8m | 45 |
| 9. | Anyone But You (Sony) | $14.8m | $30.8m | $5.8m | $5.8m | 15 |
| 10. | The Colour Purple (Warner Bros) | $13m | $43.3m | - | - | 1 |
Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.
‘Wonka’ powers ahead to $379m total
Warner Bros’ Wonka enjoyed a strong third weekend of play at the global box office, topping North America with an estimated $24.0m, and delivering $39.1m in 77 international markets. The estimated $63.1m total for the weekend brings the total after 17 days to $379.0m.
Including a New Year’s Day estimate for the domestic North America market, the worldwide total is $386.9m.
The ongoing festive holiday period means that the Willy Wonka origin tale has the capacity to play each day is if it were a weekend day, and average global takings per day so far are $22.3m. That situation should remain the same in many markets throughout the current week.
In North America, the New Year’s Eve weekend showed a 33% rise on Christmas weekend (December 22-24). For international, the increase was 17%.
UK/Ireland is the runaway leader for Wonka in international markets, with $55.3m to date – ahead of Mexico ($19.7m), France ($16.2m), Germany ($14.9m) and Australia ($13.9m). There is a strong UK association with the film, including Willy Wonka creator Roald Dahl, the filmmaking team and much of the support cast. Wonkawas made in the UK, albeit set in an unnamed European country.
Wonka has opened in every major territory except South Korea which welcomes the film on January 31.
For comparison with previous films featuring Dahl’s chocolatier, Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory (1971) predates comprehensive global box office reporting. Tim Burton’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory grossed $475m worldwide in 2005. Both these earlier films were adapted from Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, whereas Wonka is an original tale scripted by director Paul King (Paddington franchise) with co-writer Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2).
‘Aquaman 2’ hits $251m total
While Wonka showed a weekend-on-weekend rise for both domestic and international, Warner Bros’ other major release – Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom – posted a decline. And while the percentage drops for the film are gentler than might be expected for a comic-book superhero sequel, the context is that virtually every other film in the market is showing a rise on the previous weekend.
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom grossed an estimated $19.5m in North America (down 30%) and $50.5m for 77 international markets (down 33%). Totals so far are $77.8m in North America and $173.6m for international, combining for a $251.4m total. Including a New Year’s Day estimate for North America, the worldwide total is $258.3m.
The film enjoyed an opening in one new major market, Australia, delivering a robust $5.7m for the six-day opening period.
In contrast to the Wonka outcome, UK/Ireland is only the sixth-biggest international market for Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom, with $7.5m so far, after nine days of play. Instead, the international league table is led by China with $45.8m, ahead of Mexico ($12.7m), France ($9.0m), Germany ($8.4m) and Indonesia ($7.9m).
Japan is the major market yet to release the film, and opens it on January 12.
Despite the robust-seeming number in China, the sequel has no hope of replicating the stunning success of 2018’s Aquaman in the territory – $291.8m lifetime.
That big China number helped Aquaman reach a hefty $1.15bn worldwide – the biggest ever total for a film from Warner Bros’ DC Studios (formerly DC Films).
Chinese titles pepper global top 10
While Wonka and the Aquaman sequel dominated most markets, local titles led China’s box office, and new release Shining For One Thing grossed enough in China to top the global chart for the December 29-31 weekend – with $77.1m.
Shining For One Thing is based on the 2022 TV series of the same name, which streamed in China on IQIYI. The storyline sees a young man and woman relive their high school years.
Also in the global top 10 chart (see above) are Chinese comedy drama Johnny Keep Walking!, and Hong Kong action thrillers I Did It My Way and The Goldfinger. Both of the latter films star Hong Kong’s Andy Lau.
Disney’s ‘Wish’ picks up steam
Similar to Wonka, Disney animation Wish enjoyed box office rises over the December 29-31 weekend – up 19% in North America and up 39% for international holdover markets. After a fairly soft start, Wish has now reached $176.4m globally, and has yet to open in both South Korea and Brazil (opening this coming weekend in both territories).
Among international markets, France leads with $15.8m, ahead of Japan ($13.7m), UK/Ireland ($12.3m) and Germany ($12.1m).
Wish is chasing the $256.8m achieved globally by 2021 Disney animation Encanto: $96.1m in North America and $160.7m for international.
Sony romantic comedy ‘Anyone But You’ hits $31m
Sony’s romantic comedy Anyone But You added an estimated $9.0m in North America at the weekend (a rise of 50% on the previous session), taking the domestic total to $25.1m. The film – which stars Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney – began its international rollout on Boxing Day (December 26), delivering an estimated $5.8m for the opening period from 14 early markets.
Australia, where the film is largely set, led with $3.0m from six days. UK/Ireland is next with an estimated $1.6m from six days.
Illumination animation ‘Migration’ expands, hits $100m worldwide
Universal’s release of Illumination animation Migration is continuing its gradual global rollout, landing in an additional 25 international markets at the weekend, led by Australia with $2.9m over six days.
In international holdover markets, Migration performed strongly, rising 70% from the previous weekend. In North America, the rise was 38%.
The film scored an estimated $17.2m in North America and $17.1m across 68 international markets, combining to push the film up to fourth place at the global box office. Totals to date are $54.3m domestic, $46.5m for international, and $100.8m globally.
In cumulative totals, Germany leads the international pack with $6.8m, ahead of France on $6.6m.
Future key markets for Migration are Brazil (opening January 4), South Korea (January 10), UK/Ireland (February 2) and Japan (March 15).
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