Australian audiences remained sweet on Wonka through the holiday period, with the film continuing to top the local box office ahead of other titles like Anyone But You and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
The Timothée Chalamet-fronted musical, a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, has reached $27.1 million in this market so far. Some $3.3 million of that was made last weekend in the film’s fourth frame.
The local tally for the Warner Bros. title remains well ahead, pro-rata, of its North American result, where it has also been the holidays’ top title, grossing $US164.6 million.
Numero data puts the national box office as just shy of $17 million last weekend, down 13 per cent on the weekend prior. It is a result that is similar to this weekend last year, despite the absence of a blockbuster hit like Avatar: The Way of Water. The last two weeks of 2023 also ended roughly in line with the last two weeks of 2022.
Reflecting on the summer period so far, Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell notes it has been better for his circuit than last year despite no comparable title in scale to Avatar 2, thanks to a broader range of movies and a bit of help from rainy weather.
“However, it appears to be still lagging the pre-Covid period by a significant amount, and appears to be still a major movie or two short overall,” he says.
Village Cinemas head of content Geoff Chard tells IF there have been some fantastic box office figures coming through, well ahead pro-rata compared to the US on nearly every title. He is impressed by the performance of Anyone But You in particular, as well as Wonka, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and family films Migration, Wish and Trolls Band Together.
“Of course we’re thrilled to see such a diverse mix of not only product but audiences with something for everyone,” he says.
“The family titles have performed extremely well on the Village circuit, largely thanks to our custom Vjunior auditoriums.”
Cinema Nova CEO Kristian Connelly reports his Melbourne arthouse venue has had an “outstanding” holiday period so far, with the final week of the 2023 calendar year besting all comp frames for the past decade.
“Poor Things was a standout, as anticipated, while holdover titles The Boy and The Heron, Saltburn and Godzilla Minus One all enjoyed a considerable boost in trade once audiences concluded their Christmas celebrations,” he says.
“The success of these films has seen mixed fortunes for other new releases as audiences have sought to catch-up on the above. Coup De Chance has held week-on-week thanks to positive word of mouth, Dream Scenario has picked up thanks to advance screenings since Boxing Day which helped raise awareness, and Next Goal Wins opened ahead of expectations following a middling result in other territories.”
While Wonka was expected to be the hit of the summer, Dell notes the standout success for his regional NSW and Queensland-based independent circuit has been Sydney-shot rom-com Anyone But You, which he says “highlights again the life that is in the rom-com genre and in particular movies aimed at a female audience, which remains under-served.”
Chard agrees, stating the Sony film shows “absolutely no sign of slowing down.”
“This film goes to show the potential of the rom-com, which has been in very short supply over the last few years,” he says.
“To quote Sony’s Tom Rothman “I don’t think the audience for romantic comedies ever went away; studios just stopped believing in them. If you build it, they (audiences) will come. What happened with this movie isn’t something I haven’t seen in a long time; a movie that has gotten better and better each weekend.””
Starring Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney, Anyone But You was number two nationally last weekend, grossing just shy of $3 million in its sophomore frame, a boost of 4 per cent on its opening. By screen average, it was the weekend’s best performing title, with $8,364 per screen ahead of Wonka‘s $7,388. Loosely based on Shakespeare play Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You kicked off on Boxing Day and has grossed $9.6 million so far.
In the US/Canada, the rom-com has generated $US43.7 million, with the Australian result ahead, pro-rata.
In third place was another Boxing Day release, WB’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, once again directed by Australian James Wan. The sequel generated $2.7 million in its second weekend, bringing its total to $13.9 million. The local result is again, ahead of the US result on a pro-rata basis, where the sequel just crossed $US100 million mark, while global receipts are at $US334.8 million so far.
The original film also opened on Boxing Day in 2018 and by this point had grossed $27.5 million in Australia. However, there was little expectation among exhibitors that this film would reach the heights of the original, which crossed $US1 billion at the global box office and made $41.7 million locally.
In fourth position was Migration, which appears to be family audience’s preferred animated title of the summer so far over Wish, with both films having started on Boxing Day. The Universal title took in $1.7 million, a dip of 21 per cent on its opening frame, advancing to $7.6 million. That is roughly on par with the Stateside result, where receipts have reached $US77.8 million.
Coming in at fifth was new release Ferrari, with the Michael Mann film, distributed by Roadshow, bowing to $1.3 million from 299 screens, or $1.4 million with previews. In the US, the film released on Christmas Day and has earned $US16 million.
Behind it was Disney’s Wish, which generated $999,011 in its second frame, a drop of 25 per cent, advancing to $5 million.
Dell says both Migration and Wish have had a slower start than he hoped, but with parents heading back to work, expects the titles to continue to gather steam over the rest of January.
Blumhouse and Wan’s Atomic Monster horror Night Swim premiered in seventh, bowing to $720,717 from 233 screens. In the US, the film, which has a reported budget of $US15 million, opened to $US12 million.
“Night Swim had a slow start, and is certainly no M3GAN from last year, but fills a niche,” Dell says.
Taika Waititi’s critically maligned Next Goal Wins, which opened on New Years Day, took $587,226 across the weekend, bringing it to $1.6 million.
Transmission’s One Life took in $506,233 in its sophomore weekend, moving the Anthony Hopkins title to $2.8 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was WB’s The Boys in the Boat, directed by George Clooney, which opened to $443,352 from 138 screens, or $457,897 with previews.
Looking to the weeks ahead, Connelly believes the “improved awareness” of yesterday’s Golden Globes, as well as a spread of wins across multiple titles, including The Holdovers, which lands in cinemas this Thursday, bodes well for the evolving awards season.
All Australian box office data is via Numero.