Even without any major newcomers, there was still plenty to talk about with this weekend’s grosses at the box office with the first weekend of the new year going to Mufasa.
Mufasa: The Lion King finally got to top a domestic box office weekend frame. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 narrowly beat it out last frame, but this time, the latest Barry Jenkins movie had no trouble coming out the winner. In its third domestic frame, Mufasa: The Lion King grossed a solid $23.6 million, down 36% from last weekend. Its 17-day domestic total now stands at a whopping $168.3 million, nearly five times its $35.4 million bow. This costly Disney prequel still has a ways to go before it’s profitable and it’s worth noting that, even after 17 days of holiday season play, Mufasa hasn’t come close to matching 2019’s The Lion King’s $191 million domestic opening.
Otherwise, though, this is a spectacular recovery for a title that looked dead-on-arrival over the opening weekend. A total as high as $250 million domestically doesn’t look out of the question for this family movie tentpole, though I’ll currently hedge my bets a bit and project a $235-240 million finish.
Don’t weep for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 just because it got knocked out of the top domestic box office spot. The movie still grossed $21 million this frame, a 44% decline from its second weekend. That gives this video game movie sequel a $187.5 million domestic total, putting it within spitting distance of exceeding Sonic the Hedgehog 2's domestic haul. This threequel is also days away from becoming the first live-action video game movie in history to exceed $200 million domestically. Fun fact: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will be only the 27th Paramount Pictures release ever to exceed $200+ million in North America.
Then there was Nosferatu, which held quite nicely with a 39% decline and a $13.2 million second weekend gross. With $69.4 million in the bank so far after just 12 days of release, it should have a good shot at clearing $100 million in its domestic run. Whoever thought that a Robert Eggers directorial effort would hit those heights?
Moana 2 leaped back into fourth place this weekend to gross another $12.39 million (a 34% decline from the last frame) for a $425.1 million domestic haul. This movie’s domestic run has been fascinating to me. After its opening weekend (namely the first three frames of December 2024), it was holding noticeably worse than other Disney Animation releases. Starting on Christmas Day, though, it’s recovered admirably and its opening weekend-to-domestic-finish multiplier will likely be in the same ballpark as Ralph Breaks the Internet. Not too shabby at all for this record-shattering smash hit. Rounding out the top five was Wicked, which grossed $10.2 million, a 48% drop from last weekend. With $450.7 million domestically, this gargantuan hit is aiming for a phenomenal $475-480 million domestic finish.
A Complete Unknown took in $8.1 million this weekend, a fantastic 31% dip from last weekend. After 12 days of domestic play, it's now grossed $41.69 million, making it the biggest Searchlight Pictures release ever in its four years of existence. Among all Fox Searchlight titles, it’s just behind The Hills Have Eyes ($41.7 million) to become the label's 16th biggest title ever. Not a bad performance at all for this music biopic, which could still have many miles to ride if it gets some high-profile Oscar nominations in two weeks.
Babygirl has been holding quite nicely all week in its day-to-day drops and that paid off handsomely with its fantastic second weekend hold this frame. Babygirl actually had its biggest single-day gross yet on its 11th day of release ($1.69 million) and grossed $4.46 million over the entire weekend, exactly the same as its three-day bow. With $16.1 million amassed from its first 12 days of release, this one's turning into a nice slow-burn hit. If it doesn’t collapse in the weeks ahead, it might just get by $30 million in North America.
Rounding out the top ten were three more holdovers. Gladiator II eased 35% to gross another $2.67 million for a $168.8 million domestic haul. In ninth place was Homestead, which fell 32% to add $2.1 million to its North American run, which now stands at $17.4 million. It should become only the second Angel Studios release ever to crack $20+ million domestically. Finally, The Fire Inside came in tenth place with a $1.22 million gross. Dipping 37% from last weekend, this feature’s still only grossed $7.1 million after 12 days of release.
Kraven the Hunter grossed $1.05 million, a 35% dip from the last frame. Kraven has now amassed only $23.7 million domestically. It’d be so funny if this makes less than Babygirl in North America. It's now grossed $14.37 million. Returning to IMAX locations this weekend, David Fincher’s Seven grossed a solid $915,000 from 200 locations for a $4,575 per theater average. Those IMAX reissues really do have some stamina, as Interstellar vividly demonstrated last weekend. Fun fact: Seven has now crossed $100 million domestically.
The only new wide release this weekend was Vertical Entertainment’s folk horror movie The Damned. Hey, there’s a new horror movie over the first weekend of January! It only grossed $801,000 despite launching in 732 locations. It scored a middling $1,094 per theater average. A disappointing haul that gives Vertical another underwhelming wide-release launch following Your Monster, Elevation, and The Order. It’s good this studio is committed to sending out its smaller original titles to theaters first. However, some better marketing and theatrical launch plans are clearly needed.
In a very promising sign, arthouse titles this weekend show some real promise and vigor. Case in point: The Brutalist, which expanded to eight locations (up only one theater from last weekend) and increased 15% from last weekend. Grossing another $244,341, The Brutalist scored a $30,543 per theater average. This Brady Corbet directorial effort has now scored three consecutive limited-release weekend frames with $30,000+ per theater averages. To boot, it's already cracked $1.17 million domestic haul despite only playing in eight movie theaters. Even with its unusual runtime and challenging subject matter, The Brutalist could clearly become a solid box office hit if it gets some extreme Oscar love.
It was a rock-solid weekend all around for major award season titles. Flow increased 19% to gross $216,100 from 127 locations for a $1,702 per theater average. Its domestic total now stands at $2.6 million. The Count of Monte Cristo amassed $208,000 from 93 locations (jumping up 89 theaters) for a $2,237 per theater average and a $281,770 domestic total.
Mea culpa Nickel Boys, which looked like it was struggling a bit last weekend. Expanding to 18 theaters this frame, though, Nickel Boys rebounded nicely, $151,339 from 18 theaters for an $8,408 per theater average. That's a noticeable increase from its $6,829 per theater average last weekend despite more than tripling its theater count. That’s a very promising sign for this one’s long-term box office prospects. Nickel Boys now has $412,648 domestically. In a very promising sign, Anora, despite losing ten theaters, jumped 16% from last weekend to gross another $147,000. Its award season success is translating to solid retention in limited releases. Per Deadline, From Ground Zero opened to $115,000 from 70 AMC Theatres locations.
All We Imagine as Light expanded into 44 locations and grossed $74,500 for a $1,693 per theater average and $752,291 domestic total. A seven-digital domestic haul is in sight! September 5, like The Brutalist and Nickel Boys, held fine from last weekend, though its numbers are far less impressive. Expanding to 13 locations, it grossed $59,000 for a $4,538 per theater average and a $290,000 domestic total. That's a slight decrease from its per theater average last weekend. Let's see how it does in two weeks when it goes into wide release. The Seed of the Sacred Fig (now in its sixth weekend of North American play) continued its slow and steady but quietly solid run, adding two theaters to its domestic presence. It grossed $35,000 (a 5% dip from last weekend) for a $1,750 per theater average and a $302,580 domestic total.
Better Man, in its second weekend of limited release, grossed $27,000, a 48% increase from opening weekend despite its theater count (six locations) remaining the same. That's a solid boost, but it still only scored $4,500 per theater. With only $89,000 amassed from 12 days of limited-release play, this one's box office hopes now rely on worldwide numbers. The Room Next Door took in $48,100 (a 2% dip from last weekend ) in six locations for an $8,016 per theater average and $321,376 lifetime domestic haul. Vermiglio expanded into three locations and grossed $17,300 for a $,5767 per theater average and $31,712 domestic total. Santosh dipped 6% this weekend despite adding another location. It grossed $4,801 this frame from two theaters for a $2,401 per theater average and a $14,097 domestic total.
The top ten movies this weekend grossed $105 million, a noticeable 40% leap over this same frame last year (hard to believe "last year" now means 2024!) when Wonka once again dominated the box office. However, it is down quite a bit from typical first January weekends. January 2018's first frame totaled $144.1 million, while January 2017's inaugural frame reached $120.49 million. Even the first weekend of January 2019, a notoriously bleak box office month, still hit $119 million. Again, it's the lack of product that hurts the marketplace.
The gap between this January 2024 frame and those first weekends of January 2017 & 2019 could've been entirely closed if there was some new major studio horror movie making decent coin in the marketplace. It wouldn’t have even needed to break records, just a $15-16 million bow roughly in Escape Room’s range would’ve gone a long way. Major studios like Sony (with True Haunting) or Warner Bros. (The Parenting) have such titles just gathering dust on shelves, yet they refuse to give them to movie theaters and audiences. The last seven weeks have shown that audiences clearly want to go to their local movie theaters. Major movie studios and a lack of new films are the issues keeping the box office from reaching its fullest potential.