Timothée Chalamet starrer Wonka ends the year No 1 at the box office, 2023 sales reach $9 billion in post-pandemic best

Hollywood closed out an up-and-down 2023 with “Wonka” regaining No. 1 at the box office, strong sales for “The Color Purple” and an overall $9 billion in ticket sales that improved on 2022’s grosses but fell about $2 billion shy of pre-pandemic norms. James Wan’s “Aquaman” sequel starring Jason Momoa took in $19.5 million in its second weekend to bring its two-week haul to a modest $84.7 million including New Year’s Day estimates. “We saw this opportunity to go wide at Christmas since there were so few movies and we were confident the movie would be well received,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “Going into the competitive landscape that’s so thin in January and February, the excitement of awards season could really help ignite a bigger box office.” Despite a blockbuster-less holiday frame, the last weekend of the year pushed the industry past $9 billion in box office for the year in U.S. and Canadian theaters for the first time since before the pandemic. Michael Mann’s “Ferrari,” a project the director sought to make for three decades, took in $10.9 million since launching in theaters on Monday, including $4.1 million for the weekend.