“Aquaman: The Lost Kingdom” is the highest grossing DCEU movie since ... Aquaman. Go figure. The film grossed an estimated $10.61M this weekend.
The estimated domestic total is now at $100 million, estimated worldwide total stands at $334.8 million. ‘Aquaman 2’ will most likely hit the $400 million mark and be the first DCEU film to surpass “Black Adam.” The film cost $205 million to produce. It might break even.
“Night Swim,” the cheapie Blumhouse title about a haunted backyard pool, finished a surprising second this weekend. The film, marking the first nationwide release of the year, collected $12 million from 3,200 North American theaters.
This only further goes to show audience hunger for the horror genre as “Night Swim,” which holds a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes and landed a “C” CinemaScore, was not well received by critics and audiences. It was made for $15 million, and, judging by the amount of horror films being released in 2024, only further proves how the horror genre has turned into its own kind of IP.
However, “Wonka” was once again box-office champ this weekend, claiming first place with $14.4 million in its fourth weekend of release. It’s a crowd pleaser that was released at the absolute right time.
It turns out that “Wonka” is the only holiday release with staying power. The Warner Bros. musical comedy, starring Timothée Chalamet, has grossed $164.6 million domestically and is nearing $500 million globally. It will most likely, finally, be dethroned next weekend by the “Mean Girls” musical.
Let’s also tackle “The Color Purple,” which grossed an estimated $4.77 million this weekend. Its total domestic gross now stands at $54.62 million. I still can’t get over how front-loaded it was. The opening day total ($18M) represented 33% of its current domestic total. The production costs for the film are rumored to be $100 million. You do the math — it’s not doing well.
Finally, a shout out to Sean Durkin’s “The Iron Claw” which has proved to be a huge success for A24. The wrestling drama, which made $4.5 million this weekend, is A24’s second highest grosser of 2023 as it crossed the $25 million mark on Monday. Audiences seem to love this film, it has an 8.1 user score on IMDB and 94% audience approval on RT.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.