WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Wonder Woman 1984 Suffers Steep Drop But Maintains No. 1 Ranking

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

With no new wide releases debuting over the New Year’s weekend, Wonder Woman 1984 easily retained the top spot at the box office with an estimated $5.5 million from 2,151 locations, representing a steep 67% drop from last weekend’s $16.7 million debut (the highest since the pandemic took hold in the U.S. in mid-March). The top five markets for the film were Salt Lake City, Dallas, Phoenix, the Great New York Metro Area (i.e. theaters outside New York City) and Houston.

WW84’s bigger-than-expected decline could be due to a variety of factors, including the film’s mixed reception as well as its simultaneous availability on the HBO Max streaming platform. Regardless, with little in the way of new competition in January, the Warner Bros. release could conceivably maintain its No. 1 ranking at the box office for several weeks. It has $28.5 million in the North America to date.

Holding steady in second place was Universal’s The Croods: A New Age, which grossed an estimated $2.18 million from 1,751 theaters in its sixth weekend of release – an increase of 25% from last weekend. The Dreamworks Animation sequel has $34.51 million to date.

Coming in third was Universal’s News of the World, which dipped 25% to an estimated $1.69 million in its sophomore frame. The total for the Tom Hanks Western is $5.4 million.

Fourth place went to Sony’s Monster Hunter, which brought in an estimated $1.25 million from 1,807 locations — about even with last weekend’s total. The video game adaptation now has $6.26 million through the end of its third weekend of release.

Lionsgate’s Fatale finished in fifth place with an estimated $700,000 in its third weekend, a 6% increase. Its domestic total now stands at $3.09 million.

Bolstered by strong critical reviews and word-of-mouth, Focus Features’ Promising Young Woman dipped just 8% in its second weekend to an estimated $660,000 in 1,333 theaters, good enough for sixth place. Its total now stands at $1.9 million.

Disney re-released 20th Century Studios’ 1979 sci-fi/horror classic Alien in 505 theaters and grossed an estimated $75,000.

OVERSEAS

Wonder Woman 1984 grossed an estimated $10.1 million overseas, a precipitous 72% decline from last weekend’s $36.1 million. The international tally for the Warner Bros. sequel now stands at $90 million and the global total is $118.5 million. Top markets to date include China ($25 million), Australia ($11.5 million) and Taiwan ($8.1 million). WW84 releases in Russia on Jan. 14.

The Croods: A New Age grossed an estimated $7.62 million in 17 territories, bringing its international total to $80.44 million and its global cume to $114.96 million. Nearly half of its worldwide tally has come from China, where the animated sequel has $52.5 million to date.


Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, JAN. 1 – SUN, JAN. 3

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Wonder Woman 1984 $5,500,000 -67% 2,151 51 $2,557 $28,500,000 2 Warner Bros.
2 The Croods: A New Age $2,180,000 25% 1,751 25 $1,245 $34,514,280 6 Universal Pictures
3 News of The World $1,690,000 -25% 1,928 28 $877 $5,407,170 2 Universal Pictures
4 Monster Hunter $1,250,000 14% 1,807 0 $692 $6,257,000 3 Sony Pictures
5 Fatale $700,000 6% 1,183 15 $592 $3,091,447 3 Lionsgate
6 Promising Young Woman $660,000 -8% 1,333 23 $495 $1,868,180 2 Focus Features

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 The War With Grandpa $113,983 27% 305 -210 $374 $18,667,688 13 101 Studios
2 Alien (2021 re-release) $75,000 505 $149 $75,000 1 20th Century Studios
3 Freaky $55,000 8% 201 -54 $274 $8,757,060 8 Universal Pictures
4 Come Play $55,000 28% 110 -13 $500 $9,560,540 10 Focus Features
5 Half Brothers $40,000 11% 134 -52 $299 $2,056,150 5 Focus Features

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Let Him Go $8,000 18% 49 -5 $163 $9,355,940 9 Focus Features
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.