New movies struggle against Moana 2/ Wicked domination

Moana 2 and Wicked are both doing great box office in the post-holiday weekend, but smaller new releases are crashing hard.

In a turn of events that shouldn’t surprise anyone, Deadline is reporting that Thanksgiving holdovers Moana 2 and Wicked are dominating the box office on a weekend that’s light on competitive new releases. However, both Moana 2 and Wicked are coming in softer than I anticipated in my box office predictions, with Disney’s animated sequel on track to make just over $50 million (a stronger-than-expected 64% drop) while Wicked should make $32 million.

Just like in previous weekends, Gladiator II should be right behind them with a $12 million gross, while Red One should make $7 million for an $85 million total (it will be interesting to see if it can top $100 million domestically). However, the movie placing fifth this weekend is a huge surprise, with the Indian-made sequel, Pushpa 2 – The Rule, on track for a $5 million weekend. 

The weekend’s two biggest new releases, A24’s Y2K and Briarcliff’s Werewolves seem to be struggling to find an audience in the marketplace. Y2K, in particular, was given a big push by A24 with over 2000 screens for the Rachel Zegler-led horror comedy, but it will barely top $2 million this weekend for a ninth-place debut. Werewolves won’t even make it to the top 10, with it on track for only $1.2 million (too bad – as we quite liked this flick). 

In fact, outside of Pushpa, the most successful release this weekend is the 10th anniversary re-release of Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar, which is on track for a hefty $4.1 million despite being exclusively open on only 165 IMAX screens. Back when it came out, Interstellar, which wasn’t able to cross $200 million domestically, was seen as a disappointment, but time has been kind to Nolan’s film, with it now considered a classic. 

What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments!