Wonka is thinking the candy man can unwrap $75 million in its opening week

Last Updated on December 29, 2023

Warner Bros, for all its faults and its controversies with their new CEO, is actually carving out a nice little Christmas for themselves. The studio with a rich history in Hollywood is prepping for a big holiday season with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Color Purple in addition to Timothée Chalamet’s prequel of the candy tycoon. The buzz is also building for Wonka thanks to the direction of Paul King, who has gained acclaim with his beloved Paddington films. Christmas time is also a big time for movie theaters, despite what kind of business it may have done year-round. So, a superhero film, a reimagining of an 80s hit with Oprah and Steven Spielberg behind it, and the kind of hype Wonka is gathering may pay off well for the studio.

Deadline is now reporting that “the Timothée Chalamet starring musical is over/under $40M stateside at 4,150 theaters, with an additional $35M abroad inclusive of new markets which include France, Belgium, Holland, Australia, NZ, Italy, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. All in that’s $75M worldwide for this weekend. By Sunday, the Paul King directed, David Heyman produced musical will have a global running total well north of $120M for this $125M production. By this Friday, all markets sans Korea will be in release, that territory going in January. Already, Wonka has $43.2M in the till from last weekend’s overseas opening.”

Wonka will also have the benefit of premium screens that have an up-charge in ticket prices. The musical will be playing on IMAX, PLF, Dolby Cinemas, and 4DX.

According to Deadline, “the outlook for Warners: On Dec. 22, they’re opening the DC James Wan directed Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to $50M-$60M for the four day with Christmas on Monday. The Color Purple arrives on Christmas Day with an estimate of $8M for the day alone, which many consider very good. We’re hearing excellent presales on the feature take of the Broadway musical, which is based on the Alice Walker novel and Spielberg’s 1985 movie.”