- Moana 2– $26.6M/$337.5M
Disney’s hit Moana 2 continues to surf the wave at the top of the chart with another $26M. The $337M domestic number is fourth all-time behind Zootopia and the two Frozen films, but it’s sure to move up within a day or so. Worldwide, the film has $717M and doesn’t seem to be slowing down.
2. Wicked– $22.5M/$359M
Holding strong for another week at #2 is Wicked, which fell only 38% and added another $22M for $359M domestically. Worldwide, the adaptation of the hit Broadway musical has $524M.
3. Kraven the Hunter (review)- $11M
Oof. Sony’s non-Spider-Man cinematic universe comes to a sad end with Kraven the Hunter‘s $11M debut. The Aaron Taylor-Johnson/Russell Crowe superhero film had the lowest debut ever for Sony’s Spider-Verse movies, even trailing behind Madame Web’s $15M launch. Reviews have been caught in a bear trap from the beginning with critics giving it just 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences were more generous at 73%. This experiment by Sony was a disaster, and not even R-rating could help. The problems are many, but centering an entire universe around villains and antiheroes, many of whom are not A-list Marvel characters, led to audiences steering clear. The news that Sony was giving up on these movies also couldn’t have helped matters because why invest in something that doesn’t have a future?
4. Gladiator II– $7.8M/$145.9M
5. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (review)- $4.6M
Returning to Middle-Earth didn’t bring the expected rewards with The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. Opening with just $4.6M, the animated film exec-produced by Peter Jackson can’t hold a candle to his live-action movies which won multiple Oscars and scored huge box offices. My gut tells me that choosing to make it anime style reduced viewer interest except for fans of the genre. Plus, there was no real demand for this story to be told, and Warner Bros. likely did it to maintain its grip on the cinematic rights.
6. Red One– $4.4M/$92.6M
7. Pushpa: The Rule – Part 2– $3.7M/$13M
8. Interstellar (re-release)- $3.3M/$11.7M
9. Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem– $2.3M
10. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever– $1.3M/$36.6M
