‘Sonic The Hedgehog 3’ Leads Sleepy Christmas Eve, ‘A Complete Unknown’ Strikes A Chord With $1.4M Previews

While Christmas Eve box office at $25M off -19% from Monday’s $30.9M gross, the good news is that the off-moviegoing day was ahead of last year’s (which fell on a Sunday — the worst scenario possible for the industry) $18.6M by +34%.

The fresh news was that Searchlight’s previews for James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown were off to a solid start with $1.4M on its way to a forecasted $15M 5-day start at 2,500 locations. Previews began at 2PM yesterday. The movie cost $60M-$70M, we hear, before P&A, that escalated budget due to ramping up post-strike. Tuesday Christmas Eve previews are apples to oranges to previous music biopics which played on Thursdays during the summer, but for reference, Paramount’s Elton John Rocketman did $2.3M ($25.7M opening) in May 2019 while Warner Bros’ Elvis posted $3.5M ($31.2M) during June 2022. A Complete Unknown is winning over audiences with a 96% grade on Rotten Tomatoes.

Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 3 led the day with $7.5M to Disney’s Mufasa, which starting closing the gap, with $7.1M.

Top 5 for the day went down as follows:

1. ) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Par) 3,761 theaters, Tue $7.5M (-25% from Monday), Total $77.6M/Wk 1

2.) Mufasa (Dis) 4,100 theaters, Tue $7.1M (+1%), Total $49.6M/Wk 1

3.) Wicked (Uni) 3,296 theaters, Tue $3.2M (-31%), Total $392.4M/Wk 5

4.)

We’ll update when we get previews from Amazon MGM’s The Fire Inside. A24’s Babygirl didn’t hold previews. Both of those titles are eyeing single digit openings over the Wednesday through Sunday period. Focus Features’ Nosferatu only held a limited number of Imax and 35MM previews last night; that Robert Eggers’ directed horror film eyeing a $25M 5-day debut. Current RT audience score on Nosferatu is 80%.