The Color Purple Revives Holiday Box Office With $18.1M Debut
The much-anticipated musical adaptation of The Color Purple has brought a much-needed boost to the year-end holiday box office. The film opened to an impressive $18.1 million from 3,142 theaters on Christmas Day, marking the second best showing ever for a movie opening on Christmas and the best since 2009. The star-studded cast includes Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, and Colman Domingo, and the film is a retelling of the beloved Alice Walker novel and Tony-winning Broadway show.
The Color Purple’s strong performance was accompanied by other notable releases, including the George Clooney-directed The Boys in the Boat and Michael Mann’s Ferrari, which both earned solid CinemaScores.
While The Color Purple easily surpassed the Monday gross of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the superhero sequel ultimately came out on top for the long Christmas weekend. Despite its success, Aquaman 2 faced heavy competition from other recent superhero films, sparking debates about potential superhero fatigue in the industry.
Overall, this year’s Christmas box office showed mixed results, with revenue up from 2022 but down considerably from previous years. Warner Bros. took the lead with successful releases like Aquaman 2, Wonka, and The Color Purple, showcasing the studio’s dominance during the holiday season.
The success of musicals like The Color Purple and Wonka suggests that musicals may not be an endangered species in the film industry. Likewise, the specialty box office saw a strong debut for Andrew Haigh’s acclaimed film, All of Us Strangers, further demonstrating the diversity and range of films competing for holiday audiences. With the New Year’s weekend still ahead, the final verdict on this year’s holiday box office performance remains to be seen.