As a seasoned gamer and movie enthusiast who’s been through the highs and lows of blockbuster releases, I can confidently say that the holiday season of 2024 is shaping up to be a thrilling ride at the box office. The absence of the usual heavy-hitters like Star Wars or Avatar has opened up an interesting landscape for new contenders.
This year’s end-of-year holiday spectacle isn’t as bustling as it typically is, and there are no new releases like “Star Wars” or “Avatar.” However, movie studios are optimistic that there’s still plenty of holiday cheer to be found at the box office.
The launch for both movies, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” begins on December 20th at the local box office. Both films are rated PG, which makes them highly appealing to families.
As a gaming enthusiast, I’m excited to share that Sonic, a flagship franchise for Paramount and Sega, is projected to rule the weekend box office with an opening of around $60 million (some even predict it could reach $70 million). Hot on its heels is Mufasa, with anticipation of a $50 million debut. Both movies will also make their global premiere.
As a movie enthusiast, I find the holiday season, particularly Christmas, to be an extraordinary period at the box office. The reason being, each day from Christmas to New Year’s Day often feels like a weekend, leading to unusually high multiples. This anomaly is further augmented by a comparatively tranquil January, which provides fewer competing films.
In contrast to movies like Star Wars, Christmas titles generally don’t have blockbuster opening sequences. Even films like Avatar and its sequel Avatar: The Way of Water didn’t break any records during their premieres, but they continued to draw crowds and eventually ranked as the No. 1 and No. 3 highest-grossing films worldwide, unadjusted for inflation.
In Sonic 3, director Jeff Fowler reassembles Jim Carrey, Ben Schwartz, James Marsden, Tika Sumpter, Idris Elba, Colleen O’Shaughnessey, Natasha Rothwell, Shemar Moore, Adam Pally and Lee Majdoub from the previous cast. Keanu Reeves makes his debut in the franchise as Shadow the Hedgehog, while Alyla Browne and Krysten Ritter are also new additions to the series.
The narrative revolves around Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails as they band together to confront their strongest opponent yet – a formidable foe with powers beyond anything they’ve encountered. Realizing that their skills are no match for this adversary in any aspect, Team Sonic looks to forge an unconventional alliance in the quest to thwart Shadow and safeguard the planet.
In a favorable turn of events, Sonic 3 has been warmly received by critics. The choice of casting Reeves was an astute decision, and it currently holds the highest critic’s rating in the franchise with a remarkable score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is significantly higher than the ratings for the first two installments, which stood at 64% and 68%, respectively.
Barry Jenkins has been the director for “Mufasa”, and Lin-Manuel Miranda has composed its original songs. It’s receiving more positive feedback compared to 2019’s “The Lion King” so far, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide, but its reviews are still mixed (it currently holds a rating of 60% on Rotten Tomatoes).
A captivating account, titled “Mufasa“, narrates the journey of two inseparable cubs (Mufasa and Taka) who share an unbreakable bond akin to brothers from birth. However, when a menacing adversary emerges, their bond is put to the test, leading them on a life-altering adventure that redefines their destinies and friendship.
The movie skillfully combines real-life cinematography with incredibly realistic computer-generated visual effects. Its impressive ensemble voice cast features Aaron Pierre, Kelvin Harrison Jr., John Kani, Tiffany Boone, Kagiso Lediga, Preston Nyman and Mads Mikkelsen, along with several other talented actors.
As an ardent movie enthusiast, I’m thrilled to share that Paramount Pictures will be continuing its award-winning streak from September 5th onwards. On the other hand, A24 has planned some exclusive previews of their epic film, “The Brutalist,” which clocks in at a whopping 3.5 hours, on Imax screens on December 18th. Following these special screenings, they’ll be releasing the movie in select locations from December 20-22.
On Christmas Day, Universal releases the nationwide vampire horror-fantasy movie titled “Nosferatu”. This strategic move aims to take advantage of the extended five-day holiday weekend from Wednesday to Sunday. Featuring Lily-Rose Depp, Nicholas Hope, and Bill Skarsgård in lead roles, the film is expected to earn between the mid-teen and $20 million range during its opening week.
Several other films vying for awards consideration will make use of the extended holiday weekend to maximize their reach, with notable examples being “Babygirl”, starring Nicole Kidman and distributed by A24, which will be widely released on Christmas Day along with “A Fire Inside” from Amazon MGM Studios, a film written by Barry Jenkins. In contrast, Searchlight Pictures will take a more gradual approach and debut Timothée Chalamet’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Online” in select theaters on Dec. 25.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, movies such as “Moana 2” from Walt Disney Animation Studios and “Wicked” produced by Universal are expected to significantly boost holiday earnings.
This year, Disney has experienced a significant resurgence at the box office, surpassing the $2 billion mark for 2024 domestic ticket sales on Thursday. No other studio is predicted to achieve this milestone in 2024. Internationally, Disney is nearing $3 billion, which would give them an impressive yearly total of over $5 billion – the highest in the industry. Universal currently holds the second position with more than $1.7 billion in domestic ticket sales, surpassing Disney to claim the domestic and global marketshare crown last year, a feat that no studio had managed for quite some time.
As of now, the projected domestic earnings for 2024 are currently 4.6% lower than what was earned in 2023, as indicated by Comscore’s data. However, this is a significant improvement compared to mid-November, where the difference stood at a staggering 11%. The overall revenue for the year in North America is anticipated to surpass $8.6 billion, but this will hinge on how well the Christmas season performs.
Gower Street Analytics, located in London, is expressing optimism that domestic revenue for 2024 will hit $8.8 billion and international box office sales will amount to $21.7 billion, totaling approximately $30.5 billion worldwide. This figure represents a significant decrease from the projected $34 billion in 2023. Similar to many other analysts, Gower Street Analytics anticipates growth in 2025, with global earnings estimated at around $33 billion.
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2024-12-19 17:25