By Chris Kavan - 11/30/22 at 11:06 AM CT
It was a Thanksgiving weekend for the record books - but not the kind you want to be a part of. While initial estimates put the weekend at $94.5 million (per IndieWire) when all was counted things were even worse with a Thanksgiving weekend of just $89.7 million. And, as pointed out, you have to go all the way back to 1994 to find another year when the Thanksgiving weekend box office posted a sub-$100 million total - back when ticket prices averaged $4.04. Now, more than ever, we need Avatar - but also need to realize one major blockbuster will not be enough to sustain the box office in the long term.
Let's start with some good news, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever took the top spot with a $45.5 million weekend (rising to $63.8 million across the holiday frame) a much better 31.4% drop - holding better in its third week than Multiverse of Madness (48%) and Love & Thunder (52%) for a grand total of $367.47 million. And, as of this writing, has passed both The Batman ($369.34 million) and Minions: The Rise of Gru ($369.5 million) to land in fourth place on the domestic 2022 list. It will have no problem topping both Jurassic World: Dominion ($376 million) and Multiverse of Madness ($411.33 million) to land in second - but we'll see how Avatar: Way of Water performs to find out where it ultimately sits at the end of the year. Worldwide, Wakanda Forever has made $676 million as well.
If Disney has one of the few bright spots over the weekend - they also easily had the biggest loser as well. Strange World, the latest animated endeavor, was nothing short of a disaster, bringing in just $12.15 million for the weekend and $18.85 million including the holiday. It is already being compared to epic animated bomb Treasure Planet as it looks to post one of the biggest losses of the year with an estimated budget in the $180 range. It also made a paltry $9.2 million overseas. A lot of loud voices proclaim things like "woke" and "inclusion" ruined Strange World's chances with the masses but I think the main reason this failed is that nobody knew about it - the marketing was practically non-existent and it was possible it was written off before it made theaters. But audiences didn't warm up to it giving it a shockingly low "B" Cinemascore and critics were about the same at just 74% Fresh. I can't say anything for certain except this is a catastrophic opening and it's not going to get better from here.
Another bit of good news was the one-week premiere of Netflix's Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery with Daniel Craig's Southern-fired detective invited to a murder-mystery party that turns all too real. Co-starring the likes of Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, Dave Bautista, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick and Madelyn Cline the film drew in $9.4 million for the weekend and $13.28 million over the holiday. These are estimated as Netflix, per usual, is mum on the actual numbers. Still, playing in just 676 theaters, that would give Glass Onion easily the best per-theater average with $19,080 over the holiday. Now I'm not saying Glass Onion would have salvaged a brutal Thanksgiving box office, but had it played in more theaters I at least think the total would have risen above the $100 million mark. Alas, what could have been but good it looks like Glass Onion will top most other adult-driven fare this year despite its limited run in theaters. It was a hit with critics at 93% Fresh That speaks both to the power of a good cast and story and also to the relative disinterest many adults have shown at returning to be a force at the box office.
In fourth place we find Devotion, starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell as a pair of pilots during the Korean War who became a much-heralded pair of wingmen. Majors' character of Jesse Brown was also the first African-American aviator for the US Navy as well. War films typically do pretty good business at the box office, but with just $5.9 million for the weekend ($9 million over the holiday), Devotion fell on the low end of the genre and made just 1/10 of its reported $90 million budget back. It did earn a solid "A-" Cinemascore from audiences and a positive enough 80% Fresh but will likely still fade quickly.
Rounding out the top five was thriller The Menu, which ate up $5.47 million over the weekend (down a light 39.2%) and $7.61 million for the holiday. That gives the film a new $18.94 million. It's running comparable to Barbarian ($21.1 million) though 10 days, but given its $30 million budget, may have to hope people want dessert in order to ultimately earn a profit.
Outside the top five: Two films expanded, but neither found much success as Bones and All - starring Timothée Chalamet and Taylor Russell exploring the dark side of marginalized society, earned $3.76 million (7th place). The Fabelmans, the Steven Spielberg semi-biographical film, was just behind in 8th place with $3.46 million - though did so in 638 theaters as opposed to the 2700 plus for Bones and All.
This weekend brings a single new wide release in the action-packed Santa-on-a-rampage Violent Night with David Harbour portraying a very protective - and rage-fueled - Saint Nick. Whether it can toppled Wakanda Forever remains to be seen.
Those hoping for anything of note from the MPAA Ratings Bulletin this week will be sorely disappointed. Not only is it one of the shortest updates of the year, there is nothing to talk about, sadly. Thus, I leave you will what has been presented below:
1660 VINE
Rated PG-13 for strong language and some suggestive material.
CRICKET & ANTOINETTE
Rated G
RESURRECTION
Rated R for some violent content, sexual content, and for language.
