Wonka reclaims number one at the box office to close off 2023

For the second time this year, a film that debuted at number one and was dethroned the following week has finished at number one for its third week. With last week’s disastrous launch of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, it seems DCEU fans are not all that interested in returning for seconds. As such, Wonka was able to climb back up to first and finished off 2023 with a solid $23.9 million take.

Speaking of DC’s favorite Fishman, Aquaman took $19.5 million in its second domestic weekend. Combined with overseas gross, the movie has generated $258.2 million total so far. That’s not too bad, but with an inflated $205 million budget, the film is going to need well north of that figure to break even. WB is probably not too worried, though, as the DCEU is being rebooted anyway.

In third came the animated feature Migration with $17.2 million. Surprisingly, this was an improvement over its debut weekend despite the film landing in the same spot. Newcomer The Color Purple, a musical adaptation of the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, pulled in $13 million. That figure is a little skewed as the film opened on Christmas Day, so it has already grossed $50 million domestically.

The same goes for The Boys in the Boat, which made $8.3 million for the weekend but opened on Christmas Day. In total, it has earned $24.6 million thus far. Lots of films were like that this weekend, which makes their “debuts” appear worse.

Here are the top 10 films for the weekend of December 29-31, 2023. All totals listed are domestic:

1. Wonka – $23.9 million
2. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom – $19.5 million
3. Migration – $17.2 million
4. The Color Purple – $13 million
5. Anyone But You – $9 million
6. The Boys in the Boat – $8.3 million
7. The Iron Claw – $5 million
8. Ferrari – $4 million
9. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – $2.9 million
10. The Boy and the Heron – $2.5 million