There Were Christmas Day Winners, Losers at Box Office

'The Color Purple' lands squarely in the winners category
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 26, 2023 4:40 PM CST
The Color Purple Is a Christmas Day Winner
This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, left, and Halle Bailey in a scene from "The Color Purple."   (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

It was a green Christmas for The Color Purple. The film bested expectations with its $18 million opening on Monday, a figure that makes it the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time. The Hollywood Reporter says the biggest Christmas Day opener remains 2009's Sherlock Holmes, which brought in $24.6 million (not adjusted for inflation).

Variety reports The Color Purple appears to be reversing the lukewarm welcome that musicals have received at the box office of late, trumping the opening weekend takes of other recent stage-to-screen stories. It cites films like In the Heights ($11 million), Dear Evan Hansen ($7.5 million), and Cats ($6.6 million). Variety called it "a promising start for the $100 million-budgeted musical"—and in contrast to two other Christmas Day players. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom took the second slot on Monday with $10.5 million, but it has made just $38 million as of Christmas; it cost $205 million. Ferrari, Michael Mann's racing film about Enzo Ferrari, raked in just $2.8 million Monday; the Adam Driver-led film cost $95 million. (More box office stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X