New year, same old movies.
With one exception, our top five list looks pretty familiar to the ones we saw late last year. That includes the weekend’s winner, Wonka—a film that seems to have made a New Year’s resolution to make as much money as cinematically possible.
OK, granted, practically every movie resolves to do that. But Wonka—like the guy who started working out Jan. 2 and is still going to the gym in August—seems more determined than some. The movie banked more than $14.4 million in North America this weekend, pushing its overall domestic haul to $164.7 million. It’s done even better overseas, collecting $301.2 million in international markets. That pushes its worldwide total to $465.9 million. Who needs a river of chocolate when you can overflow your banks with cash?
Granted, Wonka still trails the earnings made by Johnny Depp’s (far inferior) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which earned $475 million globally in 2005. But it’s leagues better than the $623,000 that Gene Wilder’s beloved Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory gobbled up in 1971, according to Box Office Mojo. Ah, inflation.
The weekend’s only newcomer, the PG-13 horror flick Night Swim, paddled into second place with $12 million. That pushed another soggy entry—Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom—to third place. Aquaman speared another $10.6 million with his magic trident, which brings the movie’s overall domestic earnings to just north of $100 million. That sounds like a lot to you and me, but for the King of Atlantis? The Lost Kingdom feels like a lost opportunity.
Migration continues to fly with the top five finishing this week at No. 4 with $10.3 million. It’s now earned $77.8 million stateside. And the R-rated comedy Anyone But You spends a second straight weekend at No. 5.
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