Wonder Woman 1984’ Rules American Box Office
In what is more proof that a new normal has come for the entertainment industry because of the global coronavirus pandemic, Wonder Woman 1984 has topped the American box office with box office returns that would be considered disastrous before the pandemic.
Variety reports that superhero sequel film Wonder Woman 1984 is sitting atop the American box office after making $16.7 million over the Christmas weekend. While that would normally mean disaster for a film of Wonder Woman 1984’s size, it actually dwarfs other films that have topped the box office over the past few months.
The total box office take of Wonder Woman 1984 was also accomplished with only 35 percent of the theaters in the United States open. Theaters that are open are also only operating at a limited capacity. In fact, Wonder Woman 1984 performed better than Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, which only brought in $9.35 million with 70 percent of theaters open.
CNBC says that Wonder Woman 1984’s box office take is the highest for a film released in the United States during the coronavirus pandemic. The film was also able to accomplish this despite being released on streaming service HBO Max on the same day.
According to AT&T, the parent company of HBO and Warner Bros., nearly half of the subscribers for HBO Max tuned in to watch Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas Day.
Andy Forssell, WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer division executive vice president and general manager, said that the superhero sequel “exceeded” their expectations and that they only expect it to grow beyond the film’s opening weekend.
Wonder Woman 1984’s box office also dwarfs other films that have previously topped the American box office. Last week’s number one film, Monster Hunter, managed to rule the box office with just $2.2 million in revenue.
The Croods: A New Age, which was on top of the box office for three weekends, managed to do it with $4 million on its first week, $3 million on its second, and $2 million on its third. Like Wonder Woman 1984, The Croods: A New Age was still able to top the box office despite being available on a paid video-on-demand service.
Whether superhero films and other big-budget fare can return back to earning blockbuster numbers will depend on whether the United States has gotten the coronavirus pandemic under control. According to the Dec. 27 update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are now 18,909,910 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country. The number of people that have died from COVID-19 is now at 330,901.