Box Office Results: Wakanda Forever Rules Thanksgiving

It was a tale of two Disney’s at the domestic box office over the holiday weekend. On the one hand, the superhero epic Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned an impressive $64M over the 5-day weekend, raising its domestic total to $367.6M after three weeks of release, per Deadline. Worldwide, the Marvel sequel has earned $675M, with plenty of more dollars to come in the quiet weeks leading up to Avatar: The Way of Water on December 16.

On the other hand, Disney also released the $180M animated pic Strange World, which tanked in its debut weekend with just $18.6M in its first five days of release. Yikes. There are many reasons why this latest effort from the Mouse House failed, but blame most of it on poor marketing and audience reliance on Disney+.

Then again, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery killed the competition with a terrific $13.5M from just under 900 theaters, despite its eventual release on Netflix in the coming month. Why this one wasn’t released wide remains a mystery, especially considering the original Knives Out earned $312M worldwide in 2019.

The biggest story surrounding Thanksgiving 2022 is the lack of options for moviegoers at theaters. The only other new releases were Devotion, which sputtered to $9M, the cannibal flick Bones and All, which earned a meager $3.7M, and Steven Spielberg’s Oscar hopeful The Fabelmans ($3.4M), all of which were eclipsed by Glass Onion, despite playing on more screens.

The real meat was on streaming platforms where Disney’s Disenchanted, Apple TV’s Spirited, and HBO Max’s A Christmas Story Christmas provided family holiday fun. Surely any of these offerings would have earned a respectable sum in theaters.

Now, all eyes turn to James Cameron’s Avatar sequel to see if he can give the box office a much-needed boost to close the year.

DOMESTIC TOP 1

1) Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Dis), 4,258 (-138) theaters, Wed $10M (+6% from Tuesday)/Thurs $8.1M/Fri $18.2M/Sat $17.6M/Sun $10.1M/3-day $45.9M (-31%)/5-day $64M/Total: $367.6M/Wk 3

2.) Strange World (Dis) 4,174 theaters, Wed $4.2M/Thurs $2.5M/Fri $5.2M/Sat $4.3M, Sun $2.4M, 3-day $11.9M, 5-day $18.6M/Wk 1

3.) Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix) 696 theaters, Wed. $2M, Thurs $1.88M, Fri $3.6M, Sat $3.5M/Sun $2.3M/3-day $9.2M, 5-day $13.3M/Wk 1

4.) Devotion (Sony) 3,405 theaters, Wed $1.8M, Thurs $1.24M, Fri $2.4M, Sat $2.1M, Sun $1.3M, 3-day $6M 5 day $9M/Wk 1

5.) The Menu (Sea), 3,288 (+17) theaters Wed $1.1M (-15% from Tues), Thurs $1M, Fri $2M, Sat $2.1M, Sun $1.1M 3-day $5.2M (-44%)/5-day $7.3M /Total $18.67M/Wk 2

6.) Black Adam (NL) 2,847 (-525) theaters, Wed $660K (-4%), Thur $600K, Fri $1.225M, Sat $1.285M Sun $840K, 3-day $3.35M (-27%) 5-day $4.6M /Total $162.97M/Wk 6

7.) Bones and All (UAR) 2,727 (+2,722) theaters, Wed $921K (+8671%), Thur $436K, Fri $835K, Sat $857K, Sun $514K 3-day $2.2M (+1723%), 5-day $3.5M Total $3.7M/Wk 2

8.) The Fabelmans (Uni/Amb) 638 theaters (+634) Wed $400K (+4201%), Thurs $480K, Fri $880K, Sat $820K, Sun $520K, 3-day $2.2M (+2374%) 5-day $3.1M Total $3.4M/Wk 3

9.) Ticket to Paradise (Uni) 2,238 (-1030) theaters, Wed $330K (-33%), Thurs $450K, Fri $720K, Sat $730K, Sun $400K, 3 day $1.85M (-42%), 5-day $2.6M Total $65M/Wk 6

10. ) The Chosen: Season 3 (Fath) 1,750 (-289) theaters (updated/revised), Wed 3-day $381K Thur $282K, Fri $614K Sat $554K, Sun $416K 3-day $1.58M (-82%) 3-day 5-day $2.2M, Total $13.4M/Wk 2