'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.
The New Year’s weekend box office this year lacked a true blockbuster. (This time last year, “Avatar: The Way of Water” was inundating theaters.) Instead, a wide array of films – among them “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom,” “The Boys in the Boat,” “Migration,” “Ferrari,” “The Iron Claw” and “Anyone But You” – sought to break out over the year’s most lucrative box-office corridor.
The top choice, though, remained “Wonka,” Paul King’s musical starring Timothée Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka.
You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.
Start your free 30 days