Red One dominated this past weekend’s box office with a $34M debut. Dethroning Venom: The Last Dance, which has been number one for the past three weeks.

Red One Soars to the Top of the Box Office with a Massive Debut

Red One

The weekend box office for November 15–17, 2024, brought in a new leader. As Red One debuted with a commanding $34 million as per Box Office Mojo. The Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans-led holiday action-comedy didn’t just secure the top spot; but it delivered the largest opening for a holiday film this season. Averaging a robust $8,450 per theatre across 4,032 locations.  

Amazon Studios’ ambitious theatrical release strategy for Red One appears to have paid off. Especially with its star-studded cast and family-friendly appeal. Early audience reception has been overwhelmingly positive, setting the film up as a likely player throughout the Thanksgiving holiday season. However, the movie did cost $200 million, and it’s likely not going to make its money back. As with all of these co-financed pictures; it’s hard to know for sure how the money exchanged hands on the back end.

Venom: The Last Dance Slides to Second but Shows Its Strength

After dominating the box office for three weeks. Venom: The Last Dance slipped to second place, earning $7.3 million in its fourth weekend. Despite the 53.8% drop, the film continues to demonstrate staying power, bringing its domestic total to an impressive $127.6 million. Sony can celebrate yet another success for the Venom franchise. Which has established itself as a reliable box-office performer. 

The Rest of the Top Five

Lionsgate’s The Best Christmas Pageant Ever maintained its festive charm in third place, adding $5.4 million in its second weekend. The family-oriented adaptation of the classic holiday book fell 49.9% but has amassed nearly $20 million domestically.  

Meanwhile, A24’s Heretic landed in fourth, grossing $5.1 million in its sophomore outing. The cerebral horror film has split audiences but maintained steady interest, bringing its total to $20.4 million. With its modest budget, Heretic is already on its way to profitability.  

Rounding out the top five, The Wild Robot added another $3.8 million to its total. Continuing its steady run as a sleeper hit. Adapted from Peter Brown’s beloved children’s book; the animated film has found a niche audience and remains a solid option for family outings. 

Next Week’s Predictions: Who Will Come Out On Top Of GlIcked?

You’ve seen the memes and the pundits discussing it. However, next weekend is the debut of both Gladiator II and Wicked.

Wicked will almost undoubtedly come out on top. The movie has strong pre-sales and reviews will drive whether it gets a lot of walk-ins. Considering that there’s not a lot of competition (currently) for it, it’s tracking for $105 million to $150 million. It’s likely performing on the lower end of that scale, with my estimate ranging between $110 million and $120 million. The outcome will heavily rely on word of mouth, and with reviews still pending, its potential seems limited. Notably, nearly 46% of all Wicked ticket sales come from group bookings. This means that people are buying tickets for their friends/family and treating it like a group activity.

That being said, I see Wicked being front-loaded. Meaning that its audience will likely move away from the film and towards other films targeting the same demographic (i.e. Moana 2, Mufasa: The Lion King). So expect a big drop off for this film in the weeks to come.

Gladiator II is already starting out strong with Ridley Scott’s largest overseas opening with $87 million internationally. It’s poised to make roughly $65 million at the box office this coming weekend. With good word of mouth, it could potentially make as much as $80 million. It will still obviously place second. Still, I think, unlike Wicked which is front-loaded; Gladiator II will be great counter-programming to many of the kid-friendly movies coming in the weeks to come. So it could have some decent legs at the box office.

As always, we’ll find out next week!

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