411 Box Office Report: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Spends Fourth Week At #1, Violent Night Starts Well

It’s been a month of box office dominance for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which ruled the box office again this weekend. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film scored the #1 spot once again with $17.6 million. That’s a largely predicted 61% drop from last weekend’s numbers and puts the film at $393.7 million domestically and $733 million worldwide.

The film is now the 11th highest domestic grossing MCU film, and the 17th highest grossing in the franchise in worldwide totals. It should be able to make it to #8 for the franchise in domestic gross at least, and quite likely #7 (currently held by Captain Marvel with $426.8 million). Whatever it hits – the domestic total is looking at around $430 million – it’s a massive hit against a $250 million budget.

Coming in at #2 as some very good counterprogramming was Violent Night. The Tommy Wirkola-directed holiday action comedy racked up $13.3 million for the runner-up position, performing slightly ahead of the $10 million to $12 million expected start. It’s a very good start for the $20 million-budgeted film and reps the highest start for a David Harbour-led movie to date, topping Hellboy’s $12 million start in April of 2019.

Violent Night came in hot off the success of its first trailer, which promised Die Hard but with Santa. Critics liked it well enough on the whole with a 70% Rotten Tomatoes aggregate score, but audiences liked it much more. The film has a B+ CinemaScore, which is very good for a genre film like this, and the RT audience score is a very nice 89%.

The film also added $7.1 million overseas for a $20.4 million worldwide launch, which will make Universal very happy. The film will benefit from a lack of competition next week and should be able to make its way toward a $30 million final domestic total, and an ultimate profit margin for the studio.

Things went from bad to worse for Strange World, which followed its flop of an opening with a 60% drop to $4.9 million. The Disney Animation film is now at just $25.5 million domestically and $42.3 million worldwide, awful numbers for a film that cost $135 million. This one is likely to make a relatively quick exit (it’s heading to Disney+ later this month) and will top out at around $45 million in the US, making it a major money loser.

The Menu continues to do respectable numbers, as it slipped just 35% in its third weekend to $3.6 million The darkly comedic thriller now stands at $24.7 million domestically and $47.2 million worldwide. It’s holding right about where it was expected and should be able to finish out around $34 million domestically, with the international grosses pushing it toward breakeven against a $30 million budget.

Devotion was down a spot to #5 in its second weekend, falling 53% to take in $2.8 million. The Sony Pictures film is not doing stellar numbers and currently sits at $13.8 million domestically and $13.9 million worldwide. We still don’t know the budget, but it’s looking like it won’t get much past $20 million which is not great for the film.

Fathom Events charted once again with its latest release, the Christmas-themed I Heard the Bells. The historical holiday drama took in $1.8 million and has $2.6 million since bowing on Thursday. As always these tend to fall down the charts quickly, but it should be able to total around $5 million.

Black Adam was down 49% in its seventh weekend to $1.7 million. The DCEU film is currently at $165.2 million domestically and $384.2 million worldwide. It has been slowing down significantly and thus won’t hit breakeven for the studio in theaters based on its $200 million budget. Its endgame is about $170 million domestically.

Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans was off 43% from last week to bring in $1.3 million. The -autobiographical drama has now totaled $5.6 million and will need strong international toals and a very serious award season run to have any shot at making back its $40 million budget.

That said, this has some positives and negatives that Bones and All doesn’t. For one, The Fabelmans has a lot wider to go, having only expanded to 638 theaters this weekend. (It will go wider in the weeks to come.) For another, this is a much easier film to market to mainstream America and is in the frontrunner status for several Oscar categories. Universal will be pushing this one hard as we roll into award season, and that will allow it to have much higher weekends.

Speaking of which, Bones And All was off 47% in its second weekend of wide release to $1.2 million. The cannibal romance now has $6 million domestically and $10.5 million worldwide and also needs some stronger numbers and very good holds if it wants to approach its $20 million budget.

Ticket to Paradise closed out the top 10, down 54% to $850,000. The Julia Roberts/George Clooney romantic comedy had $66.5 million domestically and $164.9 million worldwide, a solid hit for Universal Pictures against a $60 million budget. It should finish off around $65 million.

Next weekend will likely see a fifth at the top Wakanda Forever, with no new wide releases outside of the re-release of Father Stu. That may not even crack the top 10.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $17.6 million ($393.7 million total, $733 million WW)
2. Violent Night – $13.3 million ($13.3 million total, $20.4 million WW)
3. Strange World – $4.9 million ($25.5 million total, $42.3 million WW)
4. The Menu – $3.6 million ($24.7 million total, $47.2 million WW)
5. Devotion – $2.8 million ($13.8 million total/$13.9 million WW)
6. I Heard the Bells – $1.8 million ($2.6 million total/$2.6 million WW)
7. Black Adam – $1.7 million ($165.2 million total, $384.2 million WW)
8. The Fabelmans – $1.3 million ($5.6 million total, $5.6 million WW)
9. Bones and All – $1.2 million ($6 million total, $10.5 million WW)
10. Ticket to Paradise – $850,000 ($66.5 million total, $164.9 million WW)