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The man finally came around.

Moana 2 was still on top of the box office, although the gap between it and Wicked is becoming smaller. We got two newcomers this week and both were colossal failures. Kraven the Hunter ended the SSU on a new low, while The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim finished outside the Top 5. In limited release, Nickel Boys had a solid start, while September 5 disappointed.

The Top 10 earned a combined $87.6 million this weekend. That's up 27% from last year, when Wonka debuted on top.

Moana 2 threepeated on the top spot, earning $26.4 million. That's a 48% drop, which is quite rough after its steep second weekend drop. After a record-breaking opening weekend, the legs are proving to be quite front-loaded. The film has earned $337.3 million, and it's now guaranteed to miss $500 million domestically. And depending on how much it drops against Mufasa and Sonic, it could miss $450 million domestically.

Wicked was still on second place, but it's getting close to Moana 2. It earned $22.6 million this weekend, which was just 38% down from last weekend. The film has amassed $359.1 million, and it's now poised to earn more domestically than Moana 2. It could start overtaking it next weekend, assuming it doesn't have a bad drop against Mufasa and Sonic.

Debuting in third place, Kraven the Hunter flopped with just $11 million in 3,211 theaters. That's the worst debut in the SSU (Spider-Manless Spider-Man Universe), and one of the worst for a Marvel property. Hell, it even debuted below Kick-Ass ($19 million), another R-rated comic book movie starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

This is not really a surprise. I mean, where do we start?

The SSU has earned a cumulative $2.1 billion worldwide. But the Venom films account for $1.83 billion of that, which is like 86% of its gross. The other two films, Morbius and Madame Web, were critical and commercial duds, becoming Internet's laughingstock. Even the Venom films are already losing good will among the general audience. Basically, it's a universe with absolutely nothing to offer, where the bar keeps going lower and lower. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me six times…

But how could Kraven open below Madame Web? On top of having lost any audience interest after the amount of trash released, Kraven barely felt like a comic book movie. The trailers emphasized brutal action, but it only reinforced that it felt like a generic action flick that come every couple weeks. The character of Kraven might be known for its hunt for Spider-Man, yet obviously we find ourselves in another lame attempt to give a villain a standalone origin story. With no signs of Spider-Man.

For some reason, Sony decided that Kraven warranted a big budget. The film was originally set at $90 million, which rose to $110 million due to the strikes (although some reports say that it actually cost $130 million). That's almost on par with the previous Venom film, and it's way too high for a C-lister. Especially when they made it R-rated. Sony is aware that this universe isn't working; TheWrap reported that Sony will stop developing films for this universe, choosing to focus on Spider-Man 4, Beyond the Spider-Verse and the Spider-Noir series. They admitted defeat before the film even came out.

There was some slight hope that J.C. Chandor's presence would also lead to a competent film. But that was not the case; it's currently at an awful 15% on RT. Nothing but a paycheck.

According to Sony, 71% of the audience was male, which is higher than usual for a comic book title. 40% of the audience was 35 and over. They gave it a horrible "C" on CinemaScore, which is even worse than Morbius and Madame Web. If you think these numbers look bad, just wait for the second weekend drop. Even with the holiday season, it's unlikely Kraven can hit $30 million domestically. A comparison could be Star Trek: Nemesis, which also opened on December 13. After disappointing with $18 million, it closed with just $43 million. If it follows the same trajectory, Kraven will finish with just $25 million. Yike.

After its rough drop, Gladiator II slightly recovered. It dropped 39%, earning $7.6 million this weekend. Looks like Kraven barely had an impact. The film has earned $145.7 million, and it should finish with close to $170 million.

Barely cracking the Top 5 was The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, which flopped with just $4.5 million this weekend. There's no point in even comparing it to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which earned over 10 times this number on their first opening weekend.

While The Lord of the Rings is a massively popular franchise, there was a ceilling to this project when it was announced that it would be an anime prequel. To understand how anime has a ceilling; last year, The Boy and the Heron, with all the buzz it could achieve, made $46 million domestically. That's far less than what other animated films can earn. Warner Bros. knew this couldn't be a big moneymaker, which is why they only spent $30 million on the film, and released it in just 2,602 theaters.

It has been reported that the film's existence was fast-tracked to prevent New Line from losing the film adaptation rights for Tolkien's novels. Although with the recent announcement of a Hunt for Gollum film coming in 2026, it was clear Rohirrim wouldn't really be a priority. If people were on the fence over this film, the film's middling reviews (51% on RT) indicated that this wasn't worth it.

According to Warner Bros., 68% of the audience was male and 66% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a lukewarm "B" on CinemaScore, far worse than any Middle-Earth film. This is not gonna last long in theaters; it'd be a surprise if this earned over $15 million lifetime.

Despite being available on Prime Video, Red One dropped just 39% this weekend, adding $4.2 million. The film has earned $92.4 million, and it's fighting to hit $100 million.

It took 10 years, but Christopher Nolan's Interstellar has crossed $200 million domestically. The IMAX re-release added $3.6 million, which was just 21% down from last weekend. Fantastic all around.

Pushpa 2: The Rule fell 67% this weekend, adding $1.6 million and taking its domestic total to $13 million.

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever eased just 14% and added $1.2 million this weekend. That took its domestic total to $36.6 million.

Rounding up the Top 10 was Luca Guadagnino's Queer, which expanded to 460 theaters this weekend. That allowed it to increase again, earning $790,954. The film's domestic total stands at $1.9 million, and it will need some Oscar buzz here.

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem finished outside the Top 10 with $737K during the weekend ($2.3 million four-day).

A24's Y2K lost 160 theaters and fell 68%, earning $684,957 this weekend. Through 10 days, the film has earned just $3.7 million, and it's gonna miss $5 million.

Paramount released September 5, an awards hopeful, into 7 theaters. But the film earned $80,802, which translates to a very underwhelming $11,543 per-theater average. The film will expand nationwide on January 17, 2025, but this is a very weak start.

Amazon MGM's Nickel Boys debuted in 2 theaters, and earned $54,794 this weekend. That's a solid $27,397 per-theater average, and it will continue expanding in the coming weeks.

Gia Coppola's The Last Showgirl debuted in one single screen, earning $50,300 this weekend. That's a fantastic per-theater average, making it the fifth highest of the year. It will hit nationwide in January.

OVERSEAS

Moana 2 was once again topping the overseas box office. It added $57 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $716.8 million. The best markets are France ($40.5M), UK ($33.5M), Germany ($24.8M), Mexico ($23.5M) and Brazil ($21.1M). It's gonna the billion milestone, but it's taking some time in getting there.

Wicked added $21.5 million, and its worldwide total is now $525 million. It debuted in Germany with $4 million, which is the best for a Broadway film. The film's best markets are the UK ($55.2M), Australia ($20.1M), Korea ($12M), Mexico ($9M) and Philippines ($5M). It will hit its final market, Japan, on February.

Kraven the Hunter also flopped overseas. It earned just $15 million, taking its worldwide debut to just $26 million. For comparison, Madame Web earned $49 million on its worldwide debut and closed with just $100 million. There's a strong chance Kraven finishes below $60 million worldwide.

After missing the mark domestically, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim also flopped overseas, earning only $4 million overseas. That's a paltry $9.9 million worldwide.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

• Paramount's Smile 2 has closed with $137 million worldwide. While that's a 37% drop from the original, it's still a box office success. Reception as a whole was much better than the first, with Naomi Scott earning praise for her performance. Smile 3: This Time It's Personal should be coming anytime now.

THIS WEEKEND

Moana 2 will cede the top spot, and it's a battle between a lion and a hedgehog.

Disney is releasing Mufasa: The Lion King, five years after the 2019 remake earned over $1.6 billion worldwide. Jon Favreau was replaced with Barry Jenkins, and the film will serve as a prequel depicting a young Mufasa and Scar. This is a strong IP, but this is uncharted territories, given that this is a completely new story with new songs. It's not gonna come anywhere close to that $1.6 billion gross, but we'll see how much it can make.

The other release is Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The franchise is going strong, and this film has added Keanu Reeves as Shadow, which drew hype among the Internet. The trailers have done a fantastic job in selling the film, and the pre-sales look very strong so far. With the holiday corridor, another increase is pretty much imminent.

In limited release, A24 is opening Brady Corbet's The Brutalist. It stars Adrien Brody as László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States, where he struggles to achieve the American Dream until a wealthy client changes his life. The film has received fantastic reviews so far, and it's poised to become a big Oscar player. Look for a healthy run, even if the 215-minute runtime might be too much for many.

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