‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Lassos Top Spot For Third Straight Weekend With Soft $3 Million Haul at The Domestic Box Office
Without much in the way of fresh competition at the box office, Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 1984 lassoed the top spot for the third straight weekend with a soft $3 million haul in North American theaters over the weekend. While it initially appeared as if the DC crime-fighter might be the studio’s savior when she debuted on Christmas Day, three weeks in, her momentum seems to have stalled as moviegoers remain wary about returning to the shrinking number of theaters still open for business.
Receipts for the Gal Gadot-led blockbuster-hopeful dipped another -45.5% from the previous frame. To date, Wonder Woman 1984 has pulled in $32.6 million in North America and another $98.8 million overseas, equaling $131.4 million worldwide. And while the film initially bowed with a debut similar to the studio’s fellow tentpole, Tenet (which opened back in September), it is now running solidly behind that film’s pace at the three-week mark when the Christopher Nolan-thriller had racked up $203 million globally. The original Wonder Woman earned $822 million at the worldwide box office back in 2017.
The PG-13-rated movie’s lackluster third-week performance was no doubt impacted by Warner Bros.’ decision to release the film simultaneously on its HBO Max streaming service. Still, the studio has been less than transparent about the number of at-home subscribers who have watched Wonder Woman 1984 in their living rooms. The most the studio has said is that the film has garnered record viewership on HBO Max, but it’s unclear what exactly that means. Still, Warner Bros. has already green lit another sequel with both Gadot and director Patty Jenkins returning to the fold.
Wonder Woman 1984 will be pulled from the streaming platform in two weeks and won’t return for several months, which could lead to an uptick at the box office, where it will play exclusively. And it is likely that it will remain at No. 1 at least until February, when a handful of smaller prestige films will open in time to qualify for the Oscars, including Nomadland and Judas and the Black Messiah.
As for the rest of the Top 5, the standings remained unchanged from the previous weekend. Universal and DreamWorks’ animated sequel The Croods: A New Age dipped -18.6% in its seventh week, pulling in $1.8 million in North America. The drop may reflect the fact that the family film debuted on premium on-demand services this past week. The PG-rated picture about a prehistoric family encountering another, possibly more evolved family features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds and scored a $995 per-screen average in 1,818 theaters. It has racked up $36.9 million at the domestic box office to date and a hair under $91 million overseas, adding up to an impressive $127.8 million worldwide gross.
In third place once again was Universal’s News of the World with $1.2 million in its third weekend. The PG-13-rated Western, starring Tom Hanks as a Civil War veteran escorting a young girl on a perilous frontier journey, slid -26.6% from the previous session, earning a $624 per-screen average in 1,986 theaters. The film has pulled in $7.1 million at the domestic box office so far. It has not opened internationally yet.
In fourth was Screen Gems’ Monster Hunter, which managed $1.1 million in its fourth weekend. The action-packed, PG-13-rated video game adaptation starring Milla Jovovich saw a -13% dent in ticket sales from last weekend, scoring a $623 per-screen average in 1,765 theaters. Monster Hunter has made $7.8 million domestically so far and another $5.8 million internationally, equaling a worldwide box office total of $13.6 million.
Rounding out the Top 5 was the Lionsgate infidelity thriller Fatale with $670,000 in its fourth weekend. The R-rated film starring Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy dropped off just -4.5% from the prior frame and snagged a $548 per-screen average in 1,222 theaters. The film’s total domestic gross now sits at $4 million. It has not opened internationally yet.
Just outside of the Top 5, Focus Features’ Promising Young Woman, which is earning awards buzz for star Carey Mulligan, remained in sixth place in its third weekend with $560,000. A buzzy and controversial hit at Sundance, the R-rated revenge thriller earned a $386 per-screen average in 1,448 theaters. It has not opened internationally yet. The film will be available on premium on-demand beginning on January 15.
The only other newcomer in the Top 20 wasn’t really a newcomer at all. Universal’s 2015 smash Jurassic World was re-released this weekend and scared up $25,000 in 80 theaters, which translates to a $312 per-screen average. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the whopping $1.7 billion worldwide that the box-office behemoth earned in its initial theatrical run.
Finally, Disney and Pixar’s existential family film, Soul, continues to do strong business at the box office overseas. While the animated movie is bypassing theaters domestically and became available exclusively on the Disney Plus streaming service on Christmas Day, it has earned $47.3 million in 11 foreign markets to date, with $25.8 million of that total coming from China.
Receipts for the Gal Gadot-led blockbuster-hopeful dipped another -45.5% from the previous frame. To date, Wonder Woman 1984 has pulled in $32.6 million in North America and another $98.8 million overseas, equaling $131.4 million worldwide. And while the film initially bowed with a debut similar to the studio’s fellow tentpole, Tenet (which opened back in September), it is now running solidly behind that film’s pace at the three-week mark when the Christopher Nolan-thriller had racked up $203 million globally. The original Wonder Woman earned $822 million at the worldwide box office back in 2017.
The PG-13-rated movie’s lackluster third-week performance was no doubt impacted by Warner Bros.’ decision to release the film simultaneously on its HBO Max streaming service. Still, the studio has been less than transparent about the number of at-home subscribers who have watched Wonder Woman 1984 in their living rooms. The most the studio has said is that the film has garnered record viewership on HBO Max, but it’s unclear what exactly that means. Still, Warner Bros. has already green lit another sequel with both Gadot and director Patty Jenkins returning to the fold.
Wonder Woman 1984 will be pulled from the streaming platform in two weeks and won’t return for several months, which could lead to an uptick at the box office, where it will play exclusively. And it is likely that it will remain at No. 1 at least until February, when a handful of smaller prestige films will open in time to qualify for the Oscars, including Nomadland and Judas and the Black Messiah.
As for the rest of the Top 5, the standings remained unchanged from the previous weekend. Universal and DreamWorks’ animated sequel The Croods: A New Age dipped -18.6% in its seventh week, pulling in $1.8 million in North America. The drop may reflect the fact that the family film debuted on premium on-demand services this past week. The PG-rated picture about a prehistoric family encountering another, possibly more evolved family features the voices of Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds and scored a $995 per-screen average in 1,818 theaters. It has racked up $36.9 million at the domestic box office to date and a hair under $91 million overseas, adding up to an impressive $127.8 million worldwide gross.
In third place once again was Universal’s News of the World with $1.2 million in its third weekend. The PG-13-rated Western, starring Tom Hanks as a Civil War veteran escorting a young girl on a perilous frontier journey, slid -26.6% from the previous session, earning a $624 per-screen average in 1,986 theaters. The film has pulled in $7.1 million at the domestic box office so far. It has not opened internationally yet.
In fourth was Screen Gems’ Monster Hunter, which managed $1.1 million in its fourth weekend. The action-packed, PG-13-rated video game adaptation starring Milla Jovovich saw a -13% dent in ticket sales from last weekend, scoring a $623 per-screen average in 1,765 theaters. Monster Hunter has made $7.8 million domestically so far and another $5.8 million internationally, equaling a worldwide box office total of $13.6 million.
Rounding out the Top 5 was the Lionsgate infidelity thriller Fatale with $670,000 in its fourth weekend. The R-rated film starring Hilary Swank and Michael Ealy dropped off just -4.5% from the prior frame and snagged a $548 per-screen average in 1,222 theaters. The film’s total domestic gross now sits at $4 million. It has not opened internationally yet.
Just outside of the Top 5, Focus Features’ Promising Young Woman, which is earning awards buzz for star Carey Mulligan, remained in sixth place in its third weekend with $560,000. A buzzy and controversial hit at Sundance, the R-rated revenge thriller earned a $386 per-screen average in 1,448 theaters. It has not opened internationally yet. The film will be available on premium on-demand beginning on January 15.
The only other newcomer in the Top 20 wasn’t really a newcomer at all. Universal’s 2015 smash Jurassic World was re-released this weekend and scared up $25,000 in 80 theaters, which translates to a $312 per-screen average. It’s a drop in the bucket compared to the whopping $1.7 billion worldwide that the box-office behemoth earned in its initial theatrical run.
Finally, Disney and Pixar’s existential family film, Soul, continues to do strong business at the box office overseas. While the animated movie is bypassing theaters domestically and became available exclusively on the Disney Plus streaming service on Christmas Day, it has earned $47.3 million in 11 foreign markets to date, with $25.8 million of that total coming from China.
