'Wonka' Musical Dominates 2023 Box Office

'Wonka' has won the New Year's weekend at the box office, with an estimated $24m grossed between Friday and Sunday, and a four-day total of $31.8m, regaining the top spot after being briefly beaten by 'Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom' on its second weekend of release. While not reaching the heights of the original 'Aquaman' ($215.4m in 2018), the sequel has still made $84.7m so far. 'The Color Purple' took $13m over the weekend, and $50m in its first 12 days of release, with strong awards season buzz surrounding the musical. Overall, the box office is up around 20% on 2022, however, it is still around $2bn short of pre-pandemic levels.