Big movie franchises are having a tough time keeping up in
the final weeks of 2023.
Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” posted the lowest opening weekend ever for a DC Cinematic Universe movie -- $40 million
over a four-day weekend in domestic U.S./Canada box-office revenue, and $28 million over three days, according to Comscore.
By comparison, in 2018, the first
“Aquaman” took in $105.4 million over a five-day period (Christmas Day fell on a Tuesday that year) and $67.9 million for three days.
Warner Bros. had a
higher-than-average national TV ad budget heading into the opening -- $19.9 million from 1,250 airings resulting in 1.1 billion impressions, according to estimates from EDO Ad EnGage.
The studio estimated TV spend was much higher the first time in 2018 -- a massive $29.6 million pre-opening (2,380 airings and 1.7 billion impressions). For the entire campaign that year,
national TV totaled $35.5 million (3,840 airings and 2.47 billion).
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Last month, in a pre-Thanksgiving release, a new edition of a longtime franchise -- Lionsgate’s
“Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” -- took in $44 million in box-office sales domestically. Previous “Hunger Games” releases posted openings of
between $100 million and $160 million.
For the current 2023 holiday weekend, the second week of Warner Bros.' “Wonka” pulled in a steady $17.7 million in domestic
box-office revenue -- to now total $75 million so far. National TV ad spend now stands at an estimated $18.0 million through December 25 (2,240 airings, 1.8 billion impressions..
Family animated film “Migration” from Universal Pictures hit $17.1 million (over four days) and $12.3 million (over three days), per Comscore. National TV ad spend was $30.5
million (5,170 airings, 3.0 billion impressions).