It seems like Willie Wonka might’ve found his own golden ticket this weekend. Wonka, an origin story for Roald Dahl’s legendary candy maker, climbed into the box office’s glass elevator and shot all the way to No. 1.
The PG-rated Wonka earned an estimated $39 million en route to its convincing North American box-office victory. That’s the biggest domestic opening weekend for a film since The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakesdebuted with $44.6 million back in mid-November.
But as delectable as those numbers might taste to the bean-counters at Warner Bros., they look like liver and onions compared to Wonka’s worldwide haul. Overseas, Wonka banked $112.4 million, bringing its grand one-weekend total to a scrumdiddlyumptious $151.4 million.
While Wonka feasted on its sweet win, another prequel, this one for The Hunger Games series, managed to scrape together a modest meal for itself. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes finished a distant second to Wonka with $5.8 million. That pushes its overall domestic earnings to $145.2 million.
The Boy and the Heron, last week’s champ, slipped to No. 3 this week with $5.2 million. Godzilla Minus One finished fourth with $4.9 million, and Trolls Band Together closed out the top five with a $4 million weekend.
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