Family films Mufasa and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 displayed competitive results during the long Christmas weekend with each studio trying for the number one box office spot. Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has a $38 million gross over the standard three-day period however Disney's Mufasa secured $63.7 million from five-days. Mufasa's success rose following daily numbers on Christmas day and December 26 giving a boost that narrowly overtook the totals generated by its rival Sonic.
Five-Day Holiday Totals Demonstrate Strong Box Office Growth Compared To Previous Years
Saturday showed Sonic 3 earned $13.5 million with Mufasa right behind at an estimated $13.3 million however that did not hamper any four of the big family film releases including Thanksgiving holdovers Universal’s Wicked and Disney’s Moana 2 which all showed potential at box office. This year's long Holiday showed that all films benefited as audience turnout showed impressive results over 2022 and 2023 weekends during holiday times as the three-day weekend overall was up by +43% compared to the New Years Eve weekend 2023 plus an additional +56% more than in 2022 which was heavily dominated by Avatar The Way of Water.
Christmas Week Totals Dip Despite 2019's Strong Box Office Figures Due to 'Star Wars' Release
The total gross revenue for this Christmas week of December 20-26 generated $263 million that is less than 2023's total revenue of $279.9 million reflecting a -6% change. Last year Christmas fell on a Monday allowing for a longer weekend impacting that year’s revenues significantly with an additional day included in gross receipts. 2019 which had Christmas occur on a Wednesday included a large $485.5 million gross due to Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker that held 60% of total sales for that time frame creating unusual high numbers in a pre Covid climate. The numbers highlight major variance during Holiday sales numbers.
'Wicked' Claims Top Spot for Stage Musical Adaptations Surpassing ‘Mamma Mia’ Gross Globally
Jon M. Chu's movie Wicked claimed the first position for the highest grossing live action musical adaptation passing Mamma Mia's $611.4 million record reaching now a record breaking $634.379 million globally. Initial viewer surveys for Wicked skewed heavily toward older women with 48% over the age of 25 compared to the small 13-17 age group who comprised only 7% of audience totals. Universal had pulled the movie's release on December 31 to Video on Demand even though the show did significantly well seeing a +36% increase during this sixth week totaling an overall amount of $423.9 million globally, the five day total was around 31.5 million dollars and 19.2 over 3 days of initial showings.
'Moana 2' Remains Popular As Strong Contender With Five-Day Box Office Totals
Moana 2 had a 5th weekend sales revenue totaling an estimated $18.3 million which shows a 39% gain giving an impressive $28.3 million in five day sales . Focus Feature’s Nosferatu pulled an additional 7.8 million in revenue on Saturday putting its total 3-day numbers at 21.1 million and its total five-day revenue at $40.3 million. Nosferatu now stands as fourth highest opening performance for Focus Feature just behind Downton Abbey ($31 million), Insidious 3 ($23.7 million) and London Has Fallen ($21.6 million). This marks a success for Focus after a difficult financial and critical time frame during the height of pandemic conditions.
Audience Data for 'Nosferatu' Shows Strong Social Media Influence and Gender Demographic Breakdown
PostTrak surveys reveal horror genre was big driver behind why audiences chose to see Nosferatu totaling a 48% motivation along with the direction from Robert Eggers (32%). Moviegoers described it looking fun which comprised 33% of total views. Walk in ticket sales stood at 59% overall during early performances and 22% cited seeing promotional material across social media with a notable 16% influenced through friends and family. The main demographics show that 41% of moviegoers were men over 25 while 33% were women over 25, with the additional remainder divided by women and men under age 25, totaling less than 25% overall. The positive responses came from 25 to 34 demographic with the 81% with also high satisfaction ratings of 81% of audiences of 35–44 demographic.
'A Complete Unknown' and High Walk-Up Sales, Strong Numbers Show Chalamet's Star Power With Fans
Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown grossed an estimated 11.6 million over three days plus 23.2 million total for 5 days with a 62% in walk up audience proving strong performance with Timothee Chalamet. Searchlight had its highest opening ever since the 2019 merger with Disney while showing signs that their brand could see successes even post pandemic. 53% of audience bought tickets to see the Bob Dylan movie 36% were interested due to actor Timothee Chalamet and also 20% specifically were there for the main cast that included Monica Barbaro Elle Fanning and Edward Norton. The demographics showed a 50/50 male to female split among the film audience along with 42% women over 25 giving this the highest grade.
'Mufasa' Outpaces 'Sonic 3' on Thursday While 'Nosferatu' and 'Complete Unknown' Set High Records
Mufasa surpassed Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Thursday sales having $12 million versus the 11.55 million respectively during the same period of time. The projected estimates showed Mufasa ahead with an estimated $58 million in total receipts at box office as compared to Sonic 3's $50 million while currently Mufasa totaled $76.4 million at box office overall versus Sonic 3's $99.55 million at the time of reporting. Focus Features Nosferatu grossed 7.6 million for its second day while heading toward a massive 21.4 million in three day sales with 40.6 million over 5-days of movie shows beating the Friday to Tuesday performance of Downton Abbey of 38.4 million that launched in 2019 which marks its biggest release ever and marks an impressive come back post-pandemic conditions.
Searchlight's 'Complete Unknown' Shines Despite Heavy Competition in This Post-Pandemic Market
Searchlight’s A Complete Unknown with Timothee Chalamet grossed 12 million over the course of three days adding another 24 million over its first 5 days representing a large opening during current post 2019 merger times for company . Some of top Searchlight films are 2009s Notorious that opened to $20 million, 2006s The Hills Have Eyes at $15.7 million and also 2018’s Super Troopers 2 with $15.1 million respectively. In current marketplace dominated by streaming services these numbers are exceptional.
Factors Behind the Success of 'Nosferatu' and 'A Complete Unknown' in a Changing Film Industry
Robert Eggers movie Nosferatu leveraged the popularity of horror genre to his rise in influence within independent film world making him very popular with the 18 to 34 year old age demographics while with A Complete Unknown offered viewers accessible film content for a broader market demographic with star power that created an increased desire to watch the film. The performance in box office of each title marks progress and is a hopeful sign for future productions of non franchise style independent and studio funded film. This highlights that even mid sized budgets can still garner an audience when using star power or specific genre related to fan base.
Other Film Releases Highlight Complex Box Office Scene: 'Wicked' 'Moana 2' And Other Titles
Universal’s Wicked generated $6.89 million at number four putting an end to its fifth weekend of sales with a grand total of $404.7 million plus $35.5 million grossed across five days. The movie will debut across various streaming platform services on December 31. Disney’s Moana 2 garnered $5.7 million for that day as sales hit $376.2 million across four weeks bringing a 5 day total to 27 million . Babygirl which stars Nicole Kidman and Harris Dickinson grossed $1.3 million that declined 13% from Christmas day’s performance with a $2.8 million running total and a projected 7 million gross at the end of the five day holiday sales and also Amazon’s A Fire Inside generated around 613 thousand in sales with a projected total of 4.3 million after five day projections. This proves the continued box office pull of larger brands despite growing independent success in cinema market.