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Thanksgiving leftovers kept this weekend’s boxoffice buffet bubbling while bolstering hopes that holiday season ticket sales will push 2024 to around $8.5B.

The post-Thanksgiving multiplex crush also hammers home that exhibition’s alive and recovering well. Those who thought it was doomed — that’s you, Wall Street — were wrong. Movies have been a product driven
business since those very early days when the new technology of moving images was, itself, enough to attract paying customers.

Propelled by strong holdover business for MOANA 2, WICKED & GLADIATOR II, this weekend’s domestic marketplace totaled $131.3M, per Comscore Senior Media Analyst Paul Dergarabedian, down 52.7% from the prior weekend, but up 79% vs. this time last year. Comscore’s year to date tally has 2024 at $7.99B, down 5.3% from $8.43B in 2023. The previous weekend in 2024 was down 6.4% vs. 2023.

Meanwhile, back at the multiplexes: Disney’s PG animated comedy adventure MOANA 2 stayed #1 with $52M (-63%) at 4,200 theatres ($12,381), per Comscore. M2’s done $300M domestically and has a worldwide cume of $600M. This was to have been a Disney+ mini-series, but Disney turned it into a theatrical feature when research showed its solid boxoffice prospects. The studio was right (sorry, Wall Street).

Universal/Marc Platt Productions’ PG fantasy musical romance WICKED was #2 again in weekend 3 with $34.9M (-57%) at 3,885 theatres ($8,970). The Jon M. Chu film reportedly cost $150M to produce and has done $320.5M domestic and $455.6M worldwide. WICKED 2, which also had a $150M production budget, opens theatrically next Thanksgiving.

Paramount/Scott Free Productions’ R rated historical action adventure GLADIATOR II was third again in weekend three with $12.5M (-60%) at 3,150 theatres ($3,619). The Ridley Scott sequel reportedly cost $250M to produce and has done $132.7 M domestic and $368.4M worldwide.

Next weekend (12/13): Two wide studio openings will be competing for moviegoers’ attention with holiday shopping and office parties. Sony/Marvel Entertainment’s R rated action thriller KRAVEN THE HUNTER, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson & Russell Crowe, opens at about 3,000 theatres. It’s tracking best for first choice with men over 25 (two points over norm).

Warner Bros./New Line Cinema’s PG-13 animated adventure THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE WAR OF THE ROHIRRIM, is opening at about 2,500 theatres. Set 183 years before the original live action trilogy, it’s the story of the House of Helm Hammerhand, legendary King of Rohan. WAR is tracking best for first choice with men over 25 (equal to norm).