By Janet H. Cho
Hollywood studios continued a late 2024 surge at the box office over the weekend, with projected ticket sales for the year now inching closer to 2023's total.
That is considerable progress since the summer. Full-year box office sales are now projected to reach $8.75 billion, just 3.3% shy of last year's haul, according to Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Through Sunday, the year's total domestic sales were $8.66 billion.
The three-day weekend total of $165 million was led by two family films, Paramount Pictures' Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, and Focus Features' gothic horror flick Nosferatu.
Dergarabedian said the box office rebound is even more remarkable considering that this year's deficit was considerably wider in June, when sales were tracking 27.5% below 2023 sales. That was before the $154.2 million domestic debut of Disney Pixar's Inside Out 2 on June 14, which together with other releases in the second half of the year started to pull Hollywood out of its slump.
Domestic ticket sales are still far below the record $11.9 billion in 2018, according to Comscore. Studios have been struggling to overcome the lingering effects of last year's writers and actors strikes, which delayed production and the film release schedule, not to mention the rise of at-home streaming, which has given moviegoers another viewing choice outside the traditional theatrical experience.
More than 680 million movie tickets have been sold this year through Dec. 15, compared with an average of more than one billion tickets sold annually from 2005 to 2019, according to EntTelligence, a moviegoing data analytics firm.
As has become the pattern, Hollywood often holds off on releasing big movies until right before the end of the year, to keep the films fresh in the minds of those voting on industry awards.
Robert Eggers' R-rated Nosferatu opened on Christmas Day, taking in $40.3 million for the five days, including $21.2 million for the three-day weekend. It came in third at the North American box office, behind Sonic The Hedgehog 3, which grossed $38 million in its second weekend, and Mufasa, which grossed $37.1 million this weekend, also in its second weekend. Both Sonic and Mufasa are rated PG.
Searchlight's A Complete Unknown, an R-rated biopic of Bob Dylan starring Timothée Chalamet, also opened on Christmas and has grossed $23.3 million, including $11.6 million for the three-day weekend.
A24's Babygirl, an R-rated erotic thriller starring Nicole Kidman, sold $4.4 million this weekend and $7.2 million since its Christmas opening.
Mufasa also sold $8 million in global IMAX ticket sales, and Nosferatu sold $1.7 million on IMAX. Both are expanding to domestic IMAX screens next weekend, along with A Complete Unknown and the IMAX rerelease of Warner Bros.' Se7en.
Comcast Universal Pictures' Wicked, Walt Disney Animated Studios' Moana 2, and Paramount Studios' Gladiator II are still drawing large audiences weeks after their debuts. Wicked raked in another $19.5 million this weekend, for $424.2 million year-to-date.
Moana 2 sold another $18.2 million this weekend, and $394.6 million year-to-date. And Gladiator II added another $4.2 million this weekend, for a $163.1 million year-to-date cumulative take.
Major studios, sequels, and PG-rated films dominated moviegoing trends this year, with 44% of audiences buying tickets to one of the top 10 movies: Disney's Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, and Moana 2; Universal's Wicked, Despicable Me 4, Twisters, and Kung Fu Panda 4; Warner Bros.' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, and Dune: Part Two; and Sony Pictures' Bad Boys: Ride or Die, according to EntTelligence.
Meanwhile, the PG-rated animated hit Inside Out 2 has continued charming audiences internationally and remains the No. 1 film this year, with worldwide ticket sales so far of nearly $1.7 billion, according to BoxOfficeMojo.
Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 29, 2024 15:41 ET (20:41 GMT)
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