3 spot with $17.2 million from 3,839 theaters over the weekend and an estimated $22.3 million through New Year’s Day. Universal and Illumination’s “Migration” flocked to the No. “The sheer volume of films made the difference.” It came right down to the wire,” says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “A couple of weeks ago, there was some doubt as to whether the industry could achieve that goal. But it’s not quite at pre-pandemic levels when the box office comfortably reached $10 billion to $11 billion a year. It’s the highest-grossing year since COVID upended the movie theater industry - far above 2022’s $7.46 billion haul and 2021’s $4.56 billion tally. However, ticket sales from Christmas to New Year’s were enough to take domestic grosses past the $9 billion mark for 2023, according to Comscore. It has been a lackluster holiday season without a potential billion-dollar blockbuster, in the vein of the first “Aquaman,” “Spider-Man” or “Avatar,” in the mix. It cost $100 million, making it a worthy revisit to the world of pure imagination.
The fantasy musical, led by Timothée Chalamet as the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka, has continued to impress at the box office with $142 million domestically and $386.9 million worldwide to date. Audiences instead chose to ring in 2024 with “ Wonka,” which reclaimed the top spot on domestic box office charts with $23.9 million over the weekend and an estimated $31 million through New Year’s Day.
