Wakanda Forever ties Black Panther’s record for a dreadful weekend at the box office

Other than getting another win for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was pretty bad for almost everything else in the top 10. Just another bright spot is Universal’s Christmas horror/action movie “Violent Night” (Read our review here), which ranked second, grossing $8.69 million in its second weekend. The movie, which stars David Harbor as the killer Santa, grossed $41.7 million worldwide against a very reasonable $20 million budget. He will be in profit in no time. But, more than that, Universal may have a movie that entered the annual holiday lexicon, which is the gift that keeps on giving.

Searchlight, meanwhile, is achieving similar success with its thriller “The Menu,” which brought in another $2.7 million, enough to finish fourth. It’s now making $57.7 million worldwide, and on a budget of $30 million, that’s not bad by any means. Especially since this number works so well on VOD/Broadcast. except that? It was bad all the way through the rest of the top ten. Disney’s “Strange World” is officially one of the studio’s biggest ever, “Devotion” is now considered one of the year’s biggest underdogs, and even Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” can’t find an audience.

Heck, even Sam Mendes, who recently directed the blockbuster “1917,” has “Empire of Light” grossing just $160,000 in 110 theaters this weekend. By comparison, the long-awaited “The Whale” earned $360,000 in just six theaters for an average of $60,000 per screen, the best of 2022. Hopefully, things look better next week, but more importantly, hope. May 2023 bring greener pastures for original adult films.

Top ten movies at the box office from December 9 to 11, 2022

1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $11.1 million

2. Violent Night – $8.69 million

3. “Strange World” – $3.6 million

4. “The Menu” – $2.7 million

5. “Loyalty” – $1.99 million

6. “Black Adam” – $1.34 million

7. “The Fabelmans” – $1.18 million

8. Met Opera: The Hours – $791,000

9. “I Heard the Bells” – $750,000

10. “Spoiler Alert” – $700,000