A Jolly Christmas Box Office Closes the Year

 While the Christmas Box Office may not have delivered on everything we hoped for- most notably, Aquaman 2 had a rather dismal showing- it still managed to end the year on a high note  Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney from Blake & Wang P.A. unpacks what the final box office milestone of 2023 brought to the table.



Brandon Blake

A 14% Rise From 2022

Christmas 2023 delivered on two fronts with its $281.4M in takings. Firstly, that’s 14% above the same period in 2022, and that’s always good news. Secondly, it delivered just enough to push the 2023 domestic box office total over the coveted $9B mark. All off the back of family-heavy fare (though some diversity was still present) and no real huge tentpole, either.

 

While Aquaman 2 may not have had the support it was hoping for, it still managed to deliver $58.3M in takings. Luckily, Wonka wasn’t far behind, adding $53.1M to the overall kitty in its second week. The hold on this film has been reasonably solid over the last few weeks, too.

Overall Results

While Aquaman 2 may have had an underwhelming performance to date, it is still tracking ahead of The Marvels. Not that that is particularly hard. Illumination and Universal’s animated flick, Migration, put in a strong second week with a great hold, too. And Trolls Band Together is well set to cross the $100M mark in its run. The Color Purple has done well for a musical, too, with a 4-day total of $32.3M over the weekend. Let’s give honorable mentions to Sony’s Anyone but You and Amazon MGM’s The Boys in the Boat for solid niche performances, too.

 

All in all, while it could have been better (as always), the Christmas-New Year box office delivered a solid performance and reiterated many of the lessons 2023 drove home. True box office success lies in a good mix of films, at all budget points, strong slates, and a variety of programming. Now, on to 2024 and the hopes of another year of strong performances and positive takings!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Kung Fu Panda 4 the Key to a Reinvigorated 2024 Box Office?

Image
 With Dune: Part Two having finally powered up the 2024 box office, it's time to build on that impetus if the wider box office recovery is to continue. There could be another strong contender lurking in the wings for this weekend’s releases- but it will doubtless surprise you to learn that this hope lies with the fourth installment of the animated Kung Fu Panda saga! Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, has more on this ironic twist for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake Two $40M Grosses on the Cards For the first time since July 2023 and the Barbenheimer dual release, we have a chance at not one, but two, films grossing over $40M this weekend. In fact, those figures may top $50M! While Dune: Part Two...
Read more

Netflix Ad Tier Turns in Fantastic Growth

Image
 What a difference half a year can make! With Netflix’s ad-supported subscription tier first launched only 18 months ago, the streamer has managed to nearly double its subscriber base since the start of 2024. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer , Brandon Blake, fills in the details. Brandon Blake Impressive Subscriber Gains Netflix’s total subscribers for the ad-supported tier now number 40 million monthly active users. In January 2024, it was 23 million. The streamer was understandably gleeful to reveal this news at its first in-person Upfronts presentation in New York earlier this month. At its first-ever Upfronts presentation, which was held digitally in 2023, the ad tier had 5 million monthly active users.   Additionally, we were told that 40% of active signups now opt for the ad-supported plan, in countries where it is currently available. Of course, much of this can be attributed to a rather kind price ($7 domestically) for this tier, well below most of ...
Read more

Hulu on Disney+ is Officially Here

Image
While the Hulu on Disney+ Beta bundle has been live since last year, we have officially reached the point of full integration. Intriguingly, much of the executive focus on the new bundle has been around the technical advancements needed to unite the two platforms. You could take a look at entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, from Blake & Wang P.A., looks in more depth at the united offering.                                              Brandon Blake Technical Advancements While few viewers are likely to know (or care, frankly) about the backstage technology that powers their viewing experience, Disney executives have been keen to hammer home the potential for happier, healthier subscriber engagement and retention with the new tech shift. They have gone as far as to call it the “most extensive technical advancement” since launch. At this point, it is clear that they ...
Read more