The DC superhero sequel, which is also available on HBO Max, closed out the worst year in Hollywood’s history as domestic revenue plunged to at least a 40-year low amid the pandemic.
Wonder Woman 1984 grossed $5.5 million over New Year’s weekend as the official holiday season ended and Hollywood bid adieu to its worst year ever at the box office due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The superhero sequel has now earned an estimated $28.5 million domestically and $90 million overseas for a muted worldwide tally of $118.5 million. In a controversial move, Warners made the Christmas Day tentpole available the same day on HBO Max and in cinemas because of the COVID-19 crisis and continued theater closures in many major markets. Exhibitors were sympathetic, considering a surge in cases and cinema reclosures across large swaths of the globe.
WW84 fell 67 percent in its second weekend of play domestically, a hefty drop for the holiday weekend even with the pandemic. The Croods: The New Age, for example, was up 25 percent in its sixth weekend with $2.2 million.
The Croods 2 is also playing in the home after being made available on premium VOD three weeks after its theatrical debut.
Overseas, one bright spot for WW84 is Australia, where the film took in a stellar $4.3 million in its second frame for a total of $11.5 million. The sequel has not done so well in some Asian markets, including China. It is showing promise in Latin America, although some major market shares are seeing a surge.
Elsewhere at the box office, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s The Croods 2 placed second domestically, while crossing the $100 million mark globally to finish Sunday with a worldwide cume of $115 million. The animated family film has held in remarkably well.
The world tally for Croods 2 includes a foreign cume of $80.44, led by China ($52.5 million).
It isn’t the only animated family title prospering in the Middle Kingdom.
Disney and Pixar’s Soul — which debuted exclusively Dec. 25 on Dsney+ in the U.S. on Disney — is building momentum in China, where it earned $13.7 million in its second weekend, well ahead of its first weekend ($5.5 million), for a total there of $25.7 million. Overall internationally, Soul has grossed $32.5 million from the 11 markets where it is playing on the big screen.
Back at the U.S. box office, Universal’s News of the World came in third over New Year’s weekend with $1.7 million in its second weekend (down 22 percent) for a domestic tally of $5.4 million. Netflix is distributing the Tom Hanks drama overseas.
Monster Hunter placed No. 4 with $1.2 million for a domestic cume of $6.3 million. Sony is handling the film domestically.
Lionsgate’s thriller Fatale rounded out the top five with $700,000 (down 6 percent) for a domestic total of $3.1 million.
And it’s official: North American box office revenue plummeted 80 percent in 2020 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented theater closures, while global revenue tumbled more than 70 percent.
New Year’s weekend, boasting year-end holiday titles, is considered the conclusion of the previous year in terms of the box office.
As predicted, domestic movie tickets sold between Jan. 1 through Dec. 31 generated an estimated $2.3 billion compared to $11.4 billion in 2019, according to Comscore estimates. That’s the lowest showing in at least 40 years. The dramatic fall-off was expected, considering that many cinemas have been closed for more than nine months in the U.S.
Globally, 2020 movie ticket sales are expected to come in between $11.5 billion and $12 billion, compared to 2019’s $42.5 billion.
In a first, China supplanted North America as the world’s moviegoing market in 2020, generating an estimated $2.7 billion in ticket sales, per Comscore.