‘Wakanda Forever’ Leads U.S. Sales For Fourth Straight Week As ‘Violent Night’ Posts Solid Opening Weekend

Topline

Disney’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever topped U.S. box office rankings for the fourth weekend in a row, earning $17.6 million this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, followed by newly released holiday action comedy Violent Night.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 26: Kevin Feige, President and Chief Creative Officer of Marvel … [+] Studios, Nate Moore, Victoria Alonso, President of Physical, Post Production, VFX and Animation at Marvel Studios, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Dominique Thorne, Ryan Coogler, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Mabel Cadena, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Lupita Nyong’o and Louis D’Esposito, Co-President of Marvel Studios, attend the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever World Premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California on October 26, 2022. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Getty Images for Disney

Key Facts

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the sequel to the 2018 superhero film starring the late Chadwick Boseman, has grossed more than $393 million in U.S. ticket sales since its mid-November debut, and is the first film since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home to remain at No. 1 for four consecutive weekends, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Violent Night, from Universal Pictures and starring David Harbour as Santa Claus, brought in $13.3 million following its release on Friday, according to Box Office Mojo, surpassing projections of a $10 million opening weekend, Variety reported.

Disney’s animated adventure film Strange World continued to flop at the box office, posting just $5 million in sales this weekend at no. 3 in the box office rankings, after debuting on November 23.

The Menu from Searchlight Pictures and Devotion from Columbia Pictures ranked in the fourth and fifth spots, respectively, for U.S. ticket sales this weekend.

Key Background

Wakanda Forever is the third highest-grossing film of the year so far, trailing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($411 million) and Top Gun: Maverick ($717 million). The movie earned $181 million domestically in its debut weekend, the second largest opening weekend for a film this year, behind the Doctor Strange sequel. However, Wakanda Forever has slightly trailed its precursor, Black Panther, which grossed $202 million in its 2018 debut and ultimately raked in $700 million in total U.S. box office sales, making it the biggest movie of that year.

Weekend Box Office Domestic Grosses (est.)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Week 4) — $17.6 million
Violent Night (Week 1) — $13.3 million
Strange World (Week 2) — $4.9 million
The Menu (Week 3) — $3.6 million
Devotion (Week 2) — $2.8 million
I Heard The Bells (Week 1) — $1.8 million
Black Adam (Week 7) — $1.7 million
The Fabelmans (Week 4) — $1.3 million
Bones And All (Week 3) — $1.2 million
Ticket To Paradise (Week 7) — $850,000

Tangent

Emancipation, which stars Will Smith and was directed by filmmaker Antoine Fuqua, kicked off its one-week theatrical debut this weekend ahead of a December 9 release on Apple TV+, which routinely does not release box office data. The film, which is Smith’s first movie since he received a 10-year suspension from the Academy Awards for slapping Chris Rock onstage earlier this year, opened in fewer than 10 theaters and averaged about $3,000 in sales at each, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Surprising Fact

Strange World, featuring voice-overs from Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal, could lose more than $100 million if ticket sales continue at their current pace, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film has posted more than $25 million in sales since its opening on November 23.

What To Watch For

The debut of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is expected to give a boost to the film industry’s post-Thanksgiving box office drag when it debuts on December 16.