Wonka’ Emerges as Christmas Winner, Crosses $100M in U.S. as ‘Aquaman 2’ Drowns

Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka has emerged as this year’s Christmas box office winner, while DC superhero pic Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom drowns.

Overall, this holiday season isn’t so joyous for Hollywood studios and theater owners. Case in point: Wednesday revenue was down 52 percent from the same Wednesday in 2019, the last year before the pandemic struck.

After relinquishing the No. 1 spot to fellow Warner Bros. tenptole Aquaman 2 over the long Dec. 22-25 weekend, Wonka — which opened the weekend before Christmas — reclaimed the throne Tuesday. Ditto on Wednesday with $8 million in domestic ticket sales, enough to propel the musical past the $100 million mark in North America (its tally through Wednesday stood at $102.5 million.

In its first six days, the Jason Momoa-led Aquaman sequel has earned only $52.5 million domestically, more than 55 percent behind the first film (its overseas cume, however, is well north of $100 million).

After a sluggish start over Christmas weekend, Illumination and Universal’s Migration has moved up to No. 2 behind Wonka. The family film earned $6.3 million Wednesday for a domestic total of $30.6 million. Aquaman 2 followed in third place, with $5.9 million.

Universal predicted that Migration would pick up once presents were unwrapped, considering that nearly all schools are closed this week.

The Oprah Winfrey– and Steven Spielberg-produced musical adaptation The Color Purple placed No. 4 on Wednesday with $3.9 million. The movie, from Warners and Amblin, got off to a dazzling start Christmas Day with $18 million, the second-best opening ever for a film launching Dec. 25 and the best since 2009, not adjusted for inflation. The film’s domestic total through Wednesday was $29 million.

While The Color Purple is coming in ahead of expectations, it remains to be seen how front-loaded it is. The movie’s drop from Tuesday to Wednesday was 45 percent, more than any other title in the top 10.

For comparison, Migration slipped just 4 percent, while Wonka saw a dip of 25 percent and Aquaman fell 29 percent. (Most movies traditionally see a decline Wednesday due to discounted Tuesday pricing in theaters across the country.)

Sony’s edgy romantic comedy Anyone but You, which rounded out the top five, was actually up 1 percent day-over-day, with a Wednesday gross of $2.6 million for a domestic total of $13.3 million.

MGM and Amazon’s George Clooney-directed The Boys in the Boat followed at No. 6 with a solid $2.5 million and a better-than-expected three-day domestic tally of $11.2 million. Like The Color Purple, Clooney’s movie and Neon’s Ferrari opened Christmas Day. The latter placed No. 8 on Wednesday with $1.2 million, for an early total of $5.6 million.