Disney is having a bittersweet Thanksgiving weekend at the box office. While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is performing as well as expected, the studio's latest animated release, Strange World, is bombing with a fraction of what similar movies released during this time of the year would historically make. With $18.2 million on its third Friday, Marvel’s superhero sequel has now topped $339 million at the domestic box office and is expected to finish the five-day holiday weekend with around $60 million. The upper limits of those projections have now been increased to $67 million. The film opened to $181 million in its first weekend and earned $66 million in its sophomore weekend. Globally, Wakanda Forever passed the $600 million mark on Friday.
The film still has a way to go before it overtakes the two other Marvel Cinematic Universe releases of 2022; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness made $955 million worldwide, while Thor: Love and Thunder grossed $760 million globally. But it will pass Love and Thunder’s $343 million domestic haul today, to become the year’s sixth-biggest film.
Things weren’t as bright for Disney Strange World, the new $180 million animated film featuring the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal and Dennis Quaid, among others. The film was projected to make around $40 million in its extended opening, which would have put it at par with last year’s Encanto, but those numbers have now been revised to $19 million after its disappointing first few days in release. Strange World made $5.2 million on Friday, pushing its running domestic total to over $11 million.
Sony’s Korean War drama Devotion is also underperforming. Directed by J.D. Dillard and starring Jonathan Majors and Glen Powell, the $90 million feature made $2.4 million on Friday and is looking at an extended weekend of around $9 million. With $2 million on its second Friday, Searchlight’s dark comedy The Menu is looking at a five-day haul of around $7 million. Directed by Succession alum Mark Mylod, the film has made over $15 million domestically so far. The top five will be rounded out by Warner Bros. and DC’s big-budget superhero film Black Adam, which made $1.2 million on its seventh Friday, for an extended Thanksgiving weekend gross of $4.5 million. The film has underperformed with $160 million so far at the domestic box office, against a reported budget of $190 million.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s unprecedented nationwide release of Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is raising eyebrows as it plays in over 600 theaters for one week and one week only. The streamer is keeping with tradition and not reporting official figures, but rival studios are estimating a five-day finish of around $10 million. The first Knives Out movie was an unexpected box office smash, with over $40 million in its opening weekend. Glass Onion and a planned third film will both be released by (and on) Netflix. Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is still on track for a $3 million extended weekend from around 600 theaters, while Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All is underperforming with around $4 million from over 2,700 theaters.
Overall business was down 12% from the same frame last year when COVID-19 restrictions were more pronounced, and audience enthusiasm was overwhelmingly more reserved. You can watch our interview with Glass Onion director Rian Johnson and star Daniel Craig here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.