‘The Boy and the Heron’ breaks new ground for an anime film
Will ‘Wonka’ wake up the box office next weekend?
Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of Dec. 8-10, 2023.
1. The Boy and the Heron
Weekend gross: $12.8M
Total domestic gross: $12.8M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA
The latest animated film from the legendary Hayao Miyazaki won the weekend. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, this is the first time an original anime movie took the top spot at the North American box office.
As opening weekends go, The Boy and the Heron is also the biggest domestic debut for Miyazaki, with its $12.8 million first weekend easily topping the $6.4 million Arrietty opened with in February 2012. (That film opened at No. 9 behind classic films like Safe House, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.)
2. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Weekend gross: $9.4M
Total domestic gross: $135.7M
Last weekend: 2nd
Percent drop: 34
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes continues to do well during a weak box office period. It’s yet to drop out of the top two, but in terms of the Hunger Games franchise, it’s running way behind. The prequel’s $135.7 million domestic haul still trails the domestic opening weekends for The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($158.1 million).
3. Godzilla Minus One
Weekend gross: $8.3M
Total domestic gross: $25.3M
Last weekend: 3rd
Percent drop: 27
I really thought Godzilla Minus One had a shot at taking the No. 1 spot at the domestic box office this weekend. The film is incredible, and I’ve definitely been doing my part to spread positive word of mouth for it. Godzilla Minus One expanded from 2,308 theaters to 2,540 theaters, but still saw a $3 million drop from last weekend. This upcoming week might be the film’s last few days in North American theaters, so now’s your chance if you didn’t want to wait for it to go on streaming.
4. Trolls Band Together
Weekend gross: $6.2M
Total domestic gross: $83.1M
Last weekend: 4th
Percent drop: 21
I wish Trolls: World Tour had gone to theaters instead of straight to streaming during the pandemic so we’d have more data for this franchise. Is the original Trolls’ $153.7 million domestic gross the outlier? Or is Trolls Band Together the course correction?
5. Wish
Weekend gross: $5.3M
Total domestic gross: $49.4M
Last weekend: 5th
Percent drop: 31
The good news: Wish has surpassed Strange World’s domestic gross from last year. The bad news: Wish still trails the lifetime domestic gross of every Walt Disney Animated Studios movie besides Winnie the Pooh since Bolt kicked off the Second Disney Renaissance in 2008.
Box office numbers via The Numbers based on Sunday estimates.
