“The Color Purple” added $7.1 million on Tuesday, bringing its domestic box office tally to an impressive $25 million after two days of release.
The Warner Bros. film, an adaptation of the book-turned-beloved-movie-turned-hit-Broadway-musical, opened in theaters on Monday. It nearly set a holiday record with $18 million, marking the largest Christmas Day opening for a movie since 2009 and the second-biggest Christmas Day opening of all time.
Blitz Bazawule directed “The Color Purple,” which is off to an encouraging start for a musical. Stage-to-screen adaptations have a spotty (at best) track record, with recent attempts like Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” remake, “In the Heights,” “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Cats” failing to resonate at the box office. But it cost $100 million, so “The Color Purple” needs to remain the de facto choice for families through the new year in order to turn a profit. Positive reviews and encouraging word-of-mouth should help the movie — led by “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino and co-starring Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks and Colman Domingo — stick around on the big screen.
It’s otherwise been a lackluster holiday season, as “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” struggles to live up to its billion-dollar-grossing predecessor. The big-budget sequel swam to No. 2 on Tuesday with $8.3 million, arriving on domestic box office charts behind “Wonka,” which finished the day in first place with $8.9 million. Warner Bros. held the top three spots on domestic charts as “The Color Purple” took third place.
“Aquaman” has grossed a disappointing $46 million after five days on the big screen. “Wonka,” meanwhile, continues to impress with $95.5 million domestically and a notable $280 million worldwide to date. The fantasy musical, led by Timothée Chalamet as the eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka, carries a $100 million price tag, which is less than half of “Aquaman 2’s” $205 million budget.
Universal and Illumination’s animated “Migration” placed fourth with $6.5 million on Tuesday, an increase of 22% from Monday’s holiday. The $70 million comedy, about a family of mallards who are heading south for the winter, has generated a soft $24 million to date.
MGM’s “The Boys in the Boat,” which tells the true story of the University of Washington rowing team that represented the U.S. in the 1936 Olympic games, brought in $3 million on its second day of release. George Clooney directed the PG-13 film, which stars Joel Edgerton and has grossed $8.72 million so far.
Elsewhere, Sony’s R-rated romantic comedy “Anyone but You” enjoyed a relatively strong turnout on Tuesday with $2.61 million, up 30% from the day prior. The film, starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, has collected $10.6 million.
Rebecca Rubin
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