In third place is Illumination and Universal Pictures’ feathery adventure “Migration,” which is succeeding for much the same reason that DreamWorks/Universal’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” did this time last year: it’s the only animated family movie on offer. Universal definitely seems to have learned from that success story and aimed for a repeat, a strategy that’s so far worked swimmingly. “Migration” opened over the Christmas weekend with a four-day total of $17.8 million, and added another $22.1 million over the four-day New Year’s weekend. Now, just like “The Last Wish” did, it has parked itself in third place and is playing the long game to become a box office hit. According to Variety, “Migration” is projected to add another $10.5 million this weekend for a running domestic total of $78 million.
Meanwhile, in fourth place, “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is slowly limping to the $100 million domestic mark, which it’s expected to cross either this weekend or early next week. That’s rough going for a movie with a reported budget of $205 million before marketing, but “The Lost Kingdom” is faring better overseas — particularly in China, where it grossed $45.8 million by the end of 2023 (per The Numbers). International ticket sales won’t be enough to save “Aquaman 2” from becoming a box office bomb, but they’ll mitigate the damage.
Rounding out the top five this weekend is R-rated romantic comedy “Anyone But You,” starring Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”) and “Euphoria” breakout Sydney Sweeney. Like “Migration,” this one is succeeding thanks to a lack of direct competition in its particular genre (date night movies/girls’-night-out movies for grown-ups). After debuting at Christmas with a modest four-day total of $8 million, “Anyone But You” has held steady and will cross $43 million domestic this weekend, against a production budget of $25 million.