Christmas Day with Christmas Eve business: Today and onward is what truly counts for exhibition — for by tonight, after dinner tables are cleared, moviegoing commences. Despite the rains in L.A., multiplexes aren’t cutting back their showtimes, and there’s a way that water actually will drive business.
Christmas Eve, as always — except for when there’s a FOMO movie like Spider-Man: No Way Home on the marquee — was down as expected with an estimated $27.6M for all movies. That includes the $2M previews cash from A24’s Timothée Chalamet period dramedy Marty Supreme (higher than the actor’s Christmas Eve previews for A Complete Unknown last year at $1.4M, which did a 5-day of $23.2M) and the $2.1M previews from Sony’s Jack Black-Paul Rudd comedy Anaconda. Previews began at noon for Anaconda and Marty Supreme. The six-theater NYC and LA portion of the Chalamet film raked in an estimated $88K Wednesday for a running total of $1.2M.
Focus Features didn’t report previews for its Hugh Jackman-Kate Hudson musical Song Sung Blue, and well, boo on that.
Yesterday’s business for all titles was down 31% from Tuesday’s near-$40M haul. The best Christmas Eve post-Covid belongs to 2021, when moviegoers threw their pandemic worries aside and headed to Spider-Man: No Way Home, driving a $31.1M day. This Christmas Eve was up 24% from 2022, when Avatar: The Way of Water was on the marquee, however, it fell on a Saturday. Way of Water made $14.8M on Christmas Eve, and Avatar: Fire and Ash led yesterday with $10.7M at 3,800 theaters and a running cume of $129.7M.
Disney’s Zootopia 2 for the third weekday in a row towered over the new stuff, Lionsgate’s The Housemaid and Angel Studios’ David, with a fourth Wednesday of $3.2M at 3,540 theaters, running cume of $296.1M. Of course, $300M is in the animals’ eyesight by today, maybe Friday.
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David at 3,118 locations did an estimated $2.5M in third place for the day for a running total of $32.4M, while Housemaid was booked at 3,042 and did $1.45M in fifth for a running total of $27.5M. Paramount’s The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants was fourth yesterday with an estimated $1.78M at 3,557 sites, and a running cume of $23.7M.
Avatar 3 is expected to do around $75M for the 4-day box office (Dec. 25-Sunday), while Anaconda is hoping to clear $20M, Song Sung Blue is forecast at $10M-$14M and all the other titles — Housemaid, David, Marty Supreme, and SpongeBob — landing in the teens.
Rotten Tomatoes audience score on Marty Supreme is 86% to its critical score of 95% certified fresh. No audience score on Anaconda, but critics are meh on it at 49% rotten. Song Sung Blue also has no audience score, but critics enjoy it at 76% certified fresh.