'Moana 2' and 'Wicked' Try to Keep the Box Office Magic Alive
by EG
It's a lot of weight for two family-friendly films to carry, but Hollywood is hoping that Moana 2 and Wicked can save 2024 for the film industry. The two movies have proven to be rare bright spots amidst an otherwise bleak year for the movie business. Can the two film, along with a couple more holiday releases, pull out a miracle by the time the New Year rolls around? Read on for details.
The Thanksgiving box office feast of 2024 was nothing short of sizzling, proving that the marketplace can expand beyond expectations when the chefs of Hollywood deliver dishes that appeal to varied appetites. Led by Walt Disney Animation’s family film Moana 2, Universal’s musical adaptation Wicked and Paramount’s epic Gladiator II, domestic revenue for the long five-day holiday weekend soared to an all-time, jaw-dropping high of $425 million — far outstripping the previous record of $316?million set in 2018.
Domestic box office revenue for the year had been down 10.6 percent from 2023 despite the launch of Wicked and Gladiator II during the Nov.?22-23 weekend, a grim reminder of the dramatic slowdown in product because of the labor strikes and lingering impact of the pandemic. Post-Thanksgiving, annual revenue is off by only 6.3 percent at $7.78 billion, providing a glimmer of hope that ticket sales for 2024 could come in at $8.5 billion to $8.6 billion, and possibly more more. Last year, revenue cleared $9 billion, still a far cry from the $11 billion pre-COVID era.
Whether the box office can cough up $1 billion between now and Dec.?31 will depend on the performance of the Thanksgiving standouts — animated films can have especially long legs — and the December holiday calendar, which is anchored by Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King and Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog?3, both of which open Dec.?20 and are tracking to strong numbers. To say Christmas 2024 is a wee bit underpowered may be an understatement since there is usually more product, say box office sources, and the calendar certainly could have used a behemoth like a Star Wars movie or Avatar installment.
There’s an age-old theory among film distributors that rising tides lift all boats, and they’re hoping that the Thanksgiving gold rush will keep consumers in the habit of going to the movies in the coming weeks. to the movies in the coming weeks. “If Mufasa, Sonic and Kraven and all the other releases overperform by virtue of a super-charged late November marketplace, then we could be looking at the potential for a Christmas box office miracle,” says Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.