With $39 million, “Wonka” dethrones “The Boy and the Heron” and takes control of the American box office for its first weekend of release. The film led by Timothée Chalamet is ahead of another prequel: that of “Hunger Games”.
US box office from December 15 to 17
1 – Wonka: $39,000,000 (New)
2 – Hunger Games – The Ballad…: $5,800,000 (cumulative: 145,238,861)
3 – The Boy and the Heron: $5,172,462 (total: 23,143,145)
4 – Godzilla Minus One: $4,880,000 (cumulative: 34,257,586)
5 – Trolls 3: $4,000,000 (cumulative: 88,662,895)
6 – Wish: $3,200,000 (cumulative: 54,274,572)
7 – Napoleon: $2,225,000 (cumulative: 57,025,044)
8 – Renaissance – A Film by Beyoncé: $2,000,000 (cumulative: 30,886,297)
9 – Poor creatures: $1,275,000 (cumulative: 2,221,764)
10 – The Shift: $1,016,217 (cumulative: 10,645,849)
To remember
Sweet weekend at the American box office. For its first days of operation, Wonka seizes the throne with disconcerting tranquility and very limited competition. Paul King’s film, led by Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant, brings in $39 million, according to estimates published on Sunday. That’s more than the scores of the other nine members of the Top 10 combined.
With a budget of 125 million greenbacks, the prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is off to an encouraging start, in the same waters as that of Dune (41 million in 2021, while theaters were struggling to fill).
A departure that word of mouth and the Christmas holidays could help consolidate. Meanwhile, the feature film has already grossed $151.4 million worldwide.
In second position, we find another prequel: that of The Hunger Games. Released in mid-November, the movie by Francis Lawrence remains second at the American box office for its fifth week of release, and is approaching the $150 million mark there.
This will not prevent it from signing the lowest score in the saga adapted from the novels by Suzanne Collins, but it is enough to limit the damage.
Leader last week, The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki lost two places but remained on the podium. In a Top 10 where we find three animated films, with Trolls 3 And wish in addition to him, it shows one of the biggest losses with 60.2% less revenue compared to last week.
Or the inverse of Poor creatures. The new film by Yorgos Lanthimos with Emma Stone shows an increase of 92.8%, which it owes to the increase in the number of its copies, from nine to eighty-two.
A classic way of doing things for Oscar contenders, which helps build the buzz around the latest Golden Lion in Venice, before it is used more widely in the rest of the American territory.
An increase in theaters which also benefited Godzilla Minus One, who however lost a place and finished just off the podium. With a total which now far exceeds the amount of its budget, which would be 15 million dollars.
Figures: Box-Office Mojo