With ‘Kraven the Hunter’ Abandoned, ‘Moana 2’ and ‘Wicked’ Get More Screens for Christmas

“Moana 2” (Disney) and “Wicked” (Universal) don’t have the heft of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” but continued with strong showings as the top two films ($26.6 million and $22.5 million, respectively). With strength through the holidays ahead, their combined U.S./Canada gross could top Gerwig and Nolan’s dynamic duo of $962 million.

Together, “Moana 2” and “Wicked” are just short of a $700 million total. “Wicked” stands at $359 million; “Moana 2” is about $337 million. Expect “Wicked” to definitively take the lead since Disney’s animated sequel will soon compete with Disney’s own “Mufasa: The Lion King” and Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3”.

“Wicked,” which bested “Moana 2” during the week, fell 38 percent from last weekend. Disney’s film (already $90 million better than the 2016 original) dropped 48 percent.

Also to their benefit is Sony’s disastrous “Kraven the Hunter.” With an $11 million opening for the Marvel spinoff and a C Cinemascore, its presence will be minimal by December 25 — which means more screens for everyone else.

‘Nosferatu’Aidan Monaghan

Other than likely genre-audience interest in “Nosferatu” (Focus) and some holdovers for “Gladiator 2” (Paramount), holiday films don’t offer much for the core audiences (younger and male) who populate theaters most of the year. The $120 million ‘production “Kraven” (at least below average for Marvel titles) had been pronounced dead in the water for some time, based on advance reports and multiple delays.

Sony’s “Venom: The Last Dance” ($473 million worldwide, $139 million domestic) had the benefit of little competition. Marvel, both at Disney and Sony, tends to avoid Christmas for its screen capacities and IMAX competition.

The weekend continued to improve over last year, when “Wonka” opened. Even so, this weekend outperformed by $92 million, cutting the year-to-date shortfall to under five percent.

An eclectic group of new releases debuted this week, including some prime awards contenders, all boosted by Q&A appearances. “The Last Showgirl” (Roadside) with Pamela Anderson played one theater in Los Angeles for a one-week qualifying run ahead of its January 10 wide release. It grossed $50,300.

‘Nickel Boys’ ©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection

RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM) opened in two New York locations with $60,844 ($30,422 average). This compares favorably with the openings last year at the same theaters for “American Fiction” and “Zone of Interest,” which went on to specialized success and Oscar wins. “Nickel Boys” opens Los Angeles this Friday, then wide next month.

Paramount opened Munich Olympics-set “September 5” in seven theaters (Toronto, along with New York and Los Angeles) to a more modest $89,000 ($12,714 per theater). It’s also hoping for nomination attention next month to parallel its wider release.

Made in part for Warner Bros. Discovery to maintain rights to the overall franchise, the low-budget ($30 million) animated “Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” only grossed $4.6 million, also clearing room for new films ahead.

Also in the top 10 (including Thursday shows) is the remastered 2003 anime “Daft Punk & Leiji Matsumoto: Interstella 5555” (Trafalagar) with $2.3 million in eighth place.

The two best holds in the top 10 were #10 “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” down only 10 percent (while also on PVOD). The reissue of “Interstellar” (Paramount) dropped 28 percent, still placing #7.

“Queer” (A24) in its third week expanded to 460 theaters and $791,000, a mixed showing for the Luca Guadagnino/Daniel Craig collaboration. It should get some continued play in its best theaters through the holidays, but this is likely its widest break.

Way off the radar, but even more impressive its second weekend is “Bad Shabbos” (Menemsha), improving to $16,672 at one Miami area theater. By contrast, Neon’s “The End” in its second week played in 151 theaters for $51,200. That’s a $339 average for a film that got top festival play a few months ago.

Top 10

1. Moana 2 (Disney) Week 3; Last weekend #1

$26,600,000 (-48%) in 4,000 (-200) theaters (no change); PTA: $6,655; Cumulative: $337,500,000

2. Wicked (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #2

$22,500,000 (-38%) in 3,689 (-196) theaters; PTA: $6,099; Cumulative: $359,030,000

3. Kraven the Hunter (Sony) NEW – Cinemascore: C; Metacritic: 35; Est. budget: $120 million

$11,000,000 in 3,200 theaters; PTA: $3,426; Cumulative: $11,000,000

4. Gladiator II (Paramount) Week 4; Last weekend #3

$7,800,000 (-38%) in 3,224 (-216) theaters; PTA: $2,419; Cumulative: $145,935,000

5. The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim (WBD) NEW – Cinemascore: B; Metacritic: 54; Est. budget: $30 million

$4,600,000 in 2,602 theaters; PTA: $1,768; Cumulative: $4,600,000

6. Red One (Amazon MGM) Week 5; Last weekend #4; also streaming

$4,479,000 (-36%) in 3,003 (-147) theaters; PTA: $1,491; Cumulative: $92,684,000

7. Interstellar (Paramount) (reissue) Week 2; Last weekend #6

$3,315,000 (-28%) in 321 (+156) theaters; PTA: $10,327; Cumulative: $ (adjusted for inflation) 260,300,000

8. Daft Punk & Leiji Matsumoto: Interstella 5555 (Trafalagar) (reissue)

$2,328,000 in 641 theaters; PTA: $3,632; Cumulative: (reissue) $2,328,000

9. Pusha — The Rule: Part 2 (Prathyangira) Week 2; Last weekend #5

$1,6429,000 (-68%) in 650 (-595) theaters; PTA: $2,449; Cumulative: $12,794,000

10. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Lionsgate) Week 5; Last weekend #8; also on PVOD

$1,350,000 (-10%) in 1,519 (-114) theaters; PTA: $889; Cumulative: $36,663,000

Other specialized/independent titles

Films (limited, expansions of limited) are listed by week in release, starting with those opened this week; after the first three weeks, only films with grosses over $5,000 are listed. Metacritic scores and initial film festivals recorded when available.

OPENING (platform)

Nickel Boys (MGM Amazon) NEW – Metacritic: 90; Festivals include: Telluride, New York 2024

$60,844 in 2 theaters; PTA: $30,422

The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions) NEW – Metacritic: 70; Festivals include: Toronto 2024

$50,300 in 1 theater; PTA: $50,000

September 5 (Paramount) NEW – Metacritic: 77; Festivals include: Venice, Telluride, Toronto 2024

$89,000 in 7 theaters; PTA: $

HOLDOVERS

The End (Neon) Week 2

$51,200 in 151 (+148) theaters; PTA: $339; Cumulative: $80,075

Bad Shabbos (Menemsha) Week 2

$16,672 in 1 (no change) theater; PTA: $16,672; Cumulative: $36,320

The Return (Bleecker Street) Week 2

$79,791 in 261 (-368) theaters; PTA: $; Cumulative: $650,833

Queer (A24) Week 3

$790,954 in 460 (+413) theaters; PTA: $1,719; Cumulative: $1,924,000

The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Neon) Week 3

$25,543 in 9 (+4) theaters; PTA: $2,838; Cumulative: $137,494

Flow (Janus/Sideshow) Week 4

$374,000 in 377 (+2) theaters; Cumulative: $1,321,000

All We Imagine as Light (Janus/Sideshow) Week 5 24

$57,000 in 34 (+10) theaters; Cumulative: $413,243

A Real Pain (Searchlight) Week 7

$223,000 in 180 (-40) theaters; Cumulative: $7,010,000

Conclave (Focus) Week 8; also on PVOD

$150,000 in 172 (-59) theaters; Cumulative: $30,894,000

Anora (Neon) Week 9 123

$215,000 in 214 (+91) theaters; Cumulative: $13,483,000

Oh, Canada (Kino Lorber) Week 2
$49,427 in 74 (+71) theaters; PTA: $668; Cumulative: $100,512