Dwayne Johnson can still open a movie—make no mistake. However, with inflated costs and souring reviews, the A-list star should take note of concerns that could diminish his star power. Nevertheless, he remains on top of the box office this weekend with Red One.
The new Christmas action-comedy, co-starring Chris Evans and Lucy Liu, debuts at #1 with $34 million from 4,032 locations. This marks the biggest opening for an original concept film since IF back in May. The debut is in line with or above his previous original films, including Central Intelligence ($35 million) and Skyscraper ($24.9 million). It's also comparable to his mid-tier films such as Rampage ($35 million) and Jungle Cruise ($35 million).
Had the film been produced on a lower budget, this would have been a solid opening. However, made during the peak of the streaming wars, the film carries a budget of over $200 million. With the marketplace evolving, it's difficult to determine whether Amazon can view this as a win in the long term. Fortunately, audiences were receptive to the film, giving it an A- Cinemascore. That's a strong asset for Red One to have as it faces competition from bigger releases in the coming weeks, including Gladiator II, Wicked, and Moana 2.
Venom: The Last Dance drops to second place with $7.4 million. The three-quel has now collected $127 million in four weeks which is a fine result despite being down 24% from its predecessor at the same rate.
Last week newcomers The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ($5.4 million) and Heretic ($5.1 million) settle at third and fourth places, respectively, this weekend with both dropping at around 50%.
The Wild Robot continues its leggy run, adding $4.3 million this weekend for a total of $137 million. Grossing $2.95 million this weekend, Smile 2 also continues to enjoy its already profitable run with $65 million domestic.
Slowly heating its possible Oscar run, Conclave sees another strong drop this weekend (-30%) with $2.8 million in earnings. The mystery thriller has now banked $26 million in four weeks.
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| Hello, Love, Again (C) Star Cinema via Deadline |
Abramorama, in collaboration with AJMC (Amorette Jones Media Consulting) created a savvy, specific marketing for the film, as Deadline reports, and reaped the rewards this weekend. On its home country, the film is expected to take the highest grossing opening week record for a local film.
Anora, another possible strong awards contender, is heating up at the box office with $1.8 million gross this weekend, just down 27% from last weekend for a total of $10 million.
Overall weekend is down from last year when The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes and Trolls Band Together opened on top of the box office. However, 2024 is expected to narrow the gap once again starting next weekend with the openings of Gladiator II and Wicked.
