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 With $131 million in global box
office receipts, the "Wonder Woman" sequel has
outperformed most fellow pandemic-era releases.
Yet that doesn't make up for the film's mighty
$200 million production budget, which is to say
the latest outing for Gal Gadot's DC hero will
almost certainly lose money for the studio.
Nonetheless, Warner Bros. has already greenlit a
third installment with Gadot and director Patty
Jeninks on board. The comic book adaptation was
released simultaneously on HBO Max in an effort
to buoy streaming service subscribers. It's
unclear how many HBO Max users watched the
movie, though the company touted record
viewership. Next weekend, "Wonder Woman 1984"
will be taken off HBO Max and it will only be
available to watch in theaters until it reaches
its traditional home entertainment window. It's
expected to return to the streaming platform a
few months later.
A surprising bright spot for the Amazonian
warrior has been Canada, where only 5% of
theaters are open and HBO Max is not available.
Warners released the film concurrently in any
available cinemas and on premium
video-on-demand, a rare strategy that wouldn't
have been tolerated by film exhibitors in
pre-pandemic times. Even more unprecedented, the
studio actually divulged tangible digital sales,
something that no Hollywood studio has be
willing to share. Canada's pVOD model resulted
in additional $7.2 million in revenues from
online platforms like iTunes and Amazon.
Outside of North America, Disney and Pixar's
"Soul" -- which skipped U.S. theaters to debut
on Disney Plus -- continues to pick up steam at
the international box office. The existential
family film amassed $8.9 million from 11 foreign
countries, boosting its overseas total to $47.3
million. Chinese movie theaters have accounted
for a bulk of that haul, with $36 million in
ticket sales coming from the Middle Kingdom
alone. It's now the fourth-highest grossing
Pixar movie ever in China and looks to overtake
"Finding Dory" ($38.4 million) for third place
following "Coco" and "Incredibles 2."
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 Without any new nationwide
releases, a variety of holdovers rounded out
domestic box office charts. In second place,
Universal and DreamWorks' "The Croods: A New
Age" pulled in $1.8 million in its seventh week
of release for a domestic tally of $36.8
million. Internationally, "The Croods" sequel
crossed $90 million after adding $5.1 million
from 17 overseas countries. Its global haul
hovers at $127 million. The film is currently
available on premium video-on-demand platforms
as part of a deal forged between Universal and
major exhibitors such as AMC and Cinemark. Under
the pact, the studio can put new titles on
digital rental services after 17 days of their
theatrical debuts. In return, AMC and Cinemark
get a cut of the profits and any open cinemas
have fresh content to show on the big screen.
Another Universal title "News of the World"
managed third place with $1.2 million. The Tom
Hanks-led Western drama, directed by Paul
Greengrass, premiered on Christmas Day and has
collected $7 million to date. Netflix has
international rights to "News of the World."
Sony's thriller "Monster Hunter" took in $1.1
million, enough to land the No. 4 spot. After a
month in theaters, the video game adaptation
with Milla Jovovich has generated $7.8 million.
"Fatale," a psychological thriller with Hilary
Swank and Michael Ealy, rounded out the top five
with $670,000 in its fourth weekend of release.
That brings its total to $4 million.
Focus Features' revenge thriller "Promising
Young Woman" secured $560,000 over the weekend,
finding itself in sixth place and putting its
total at $2.7 million. Like "The Croods" sequel
and "News of the World," the film falls under
its parent company Universal's early VOD
agreement. Directed by Emerald Fennell and
starring Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"
lands on home entertainment for a premium price
starting on Jan. 15.
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