ZAMM.COM

A Martian who landed in L.A. Thanksgiving weekend would likely be texting home that theatrical exhibition is an amazing business and he wants to buy some cinemas if he can pay with Bitcoins.

With the five day holiday boxoffice hitting a massive estimated $420M, per Comscore, it’s easy to see why the Martian and everyone else knows moviegoing isn’t dead. Of course, had our Martian had a faster spaceship and landed in mid-October, he’d have seen empty multiplexes and would be excited about going into streaming.

The real difference between JOKER 2’s implosion in October and today’s sizzling boxoffice is that the studios are now playing films moviegoers want to see. The resulting ticket sales should be giving Wall Street second thoughts about having pushed Hollywood to abandon exhibition and undertake the crushing costs of streaming.

Driven by MOANA 2, WICKED & GLADIATOR II, this weekend’s domestic marketplace totaled $271.1M for three days, per Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, up 32.4% from the prior weekend and up 176% vs. this time last year. Comscore’s year to date tally has 2024 at $7.78B, down 6.4% from $8.31B in 2023. The previous weekend in 2024 was down 10.7% vs. 2023.

Meanwhile, back at the multiplexes: Disney’s PG animated comedy adventure MOANA 2 sailed into 4,200 theatres with $135.5M for three days ($32,262) and $221M for five days, per Comscore. Hollywood buzz-ards were projecting not so long ago just $100M for three days & $135M for five days! The sequel, which delivered the all-time biggest five day launch, did $165.3M internationally and has a worldwide cume of $388.3M. M2 started out to be a Disney+ series but became a theatrical feature instead when research pointed to boxoffice potential.

M2’s tracking best for first choice with under 25 women (21 points over norm) and next best with women over 25 (11 points over norm). Rotten Tomatoes critics don’t like it at 65%, but audiences are happier at 87%.

Universal/Marc Platt Productions’ PG fantasy musical romance WICKED was #2 in weekend 2 with $80M for three days (29%) at 3,888 theatres ($20,576). The Jon M. Chu film reportedly cost $150M to produce and has done $262.4M domestic and $359.3M worldwide. WICKED 2, also budgeted at $150M, will be in theatres for Thanksgiving 2025.

Paramount/Scott Free Productions’ R rated historical action adventure GLADIATOR II was third in weekend two with $30.7M (-44%) for three days at 3,580 theatres ($8,575). The Ridley Scott sequel reportedly cost $250M to produce and has done $111.2M domestic and $320M worldwide.

Next weekend (12/6): No big studio releases are opening, but holdover business for MOANA 2, WICKED & GLADIATOR II should keep the multiplexes humming.