The post-Thanksgiving doldrums continued this weekend. While the first weekend of December is notoriously slow, the second is typically even worse. That held true this year, although ticket sales were up 93% from 2022, so that’s something. Things should heat back up next week with the release of Wonka which should kick off the holidays. Hopefully.
But on the bright side, this lull allowed a very unlikely candidate to top the charts — Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki‘s The Boy and the Heron. Earning $12.8 million, this marks the first U.S./Canada #1 from Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki. It’s also the first Studio Ghibli movie to open on IMAX screens, which helped bolster its performance. The picture is presented in its original Japanese with subtitles or in an English dubbed version featuring an all-star cast that includes Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Gemma Chan, Willem Dafoe, Karen Fukuhara, Mark Hamill, Robert Pattinson and Florence Pugh.
Its Rotten Tomatoes critical score is an excellent 95%, and its audience score is 91%. Exiting audiences granted this an A- via CinemaScore and 4½ stars via PostTrak. This seems like a shoo-in for a Best Animated Feature nomination– and possible win– in the upcoming awards season.
Second place went to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel that has proven to have longer legs than most anticipated. It earned an additional $9.4M to bring its domestic total to $135.6M.
Another Japanese movie lands at #3, Godzilla Minus One, holding in at the same spot it nabbed last weekend. It took in an additional $8.3M to bring its total to $25.3M. It also takes the crown for the highest-grossing live-action Japanese movie in the U.S. and Canada.
In fourth place is this fall’s animated champ, Trolls Band Together, which generated an additional $6.2M, bringing its total to $83M. The #5 spot went to Disney’s Wish which generated an additional $5.3M to bring its domestic total to $49.4M. Globally, it has passed the $100M mark, which is something of a triumph for a film that is underperforming as much as this one is.
Here is the Top Five:
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- Boy and the Heron (GKIDS/Studio Ghibli) – 3-day $12.8M/Wk 1
- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Lionsgate) – 3-day $9.4M /Total $135.7M /Wk 4
- Godzilla Minus One (Toho) – 3-day $8.3M /Total $25.3M /Wk 2
- Trolls Band Together (Universal) – 3-day $6.2M/ Total $83M/Wk 4
- Wish (Disney) – 3 day $5.3M/Total $49.4M/Wk 3
Unfortunately, last week’s queen, Renaissance: A Film By Beyoncé, took a 77% plunge and fell out of the Top Five, earning just $5M. What happened?
Well, there were many comparisons to Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, which set the box office on fire just two months ago. But that was an anomaly.
Concert films aren’t typically blockbusters. The Eras Tour has grossed $178.9M at the box office. The second-highest-grossing concert film of all time is Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which made $73M. There is an over $100M gap between #1 and #2. And things steadily drop from there.
Simply put, The Eras Tour was lightning in a bottle, and there may never be another concert film that matches it.
Honestly, if you look at the Top Ten biggest concert films of all time, they include Taylor, Bieber, Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus, One Direction, Jonas Brothers, and the cast of Glee. And just outside of the Top Ten, BTS has had three one-off event screenings that performed extremely well. In other words, the main draws at the cinema are artists that are aimed at kids and teens.
Beyoncé is not a teen-targeted performer. Her demographic is older, and it seems like that audience isn’t as ravenous for this type of content as the younger crowd. Or maybe they just don’t want to watch a concert in a theater.
As mentioned last week, Renaissance got excellent reactions from audiences, so when this hits streaming, expect it to be a big hit.
But next weekend sees the kick-off to the Christmas film season with Wonka. That will be followed by such potential hits as Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Color Purple.
Did you check out anything this weekend? Will you be hitting the multiplex anytime in the coming weeks as 2023 winds down?
