Wonka Beats Aquaman 2 at Box Office on Day After Christmas

Wonka outpaced Aquaman 2 at the box office on the day after Christmas. New returns see Timothee Chalamet's confectioner standing atop the box office pile with $8.9 million. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom came in second with $8.3 million. So, the strange journey through the multiplex continues for Jason Momoa's superhero fare. But, Wonka is a vivid bright-spot for a movie environment that most observers can't make heads or tails of in recent months. Multiple huge movies have seen their takes dwindle as apathy sets in among the movie-going public. It isn't just superheroes either. There have been numerous biopics and original projects to not pass muster to close out 2023. So, the future seems murky beyond Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's seas.

Now, the real story here is The Color Purple, who came in with a soaring $7 million at the box office after Christmas. The musical rendition of the classic movie blew the doors off cinemas with an $18.1 million winter holiday opening. This is strengthened by word of mouth. In The Color Purple and some of the other hits of 2023, there is a clear path forward: marketing movies directly to the people who will go see them. Barbie singled out the demographics and was handsomely rewarded, Nintendo completely leaned-into Super Mario Bros. Over with Oppenheimer, the movie's marketers decided to lean-into the meme double-feature to devastating effect. With The Color Purple, the audiences who loved the first movie knew about the new one and responded accordingly.

Wonka Surprises Chalamet Too

While the box office performance of Wonka has people talking on social media, the movie's star questioned if he was even going to be able to do the project justice. Calah Lane, Noodle in the musical, talked to Variety about getting Chalamet on-board with all the singing required for this movie.

"I really, really enjoyed Timmy's 'A World of Your Own' song," Lane explained. "His voice sounds really good in it. He keeps on telling me that he doesn't think that he can sing, but I'm like, 'Of course you can sing! Do you hear yourself?' I told my sister, 'I need to take Timmy and have him sit down and listen to himself,' and then be like, 'Now do you think you can sing?' And if he says no, he's gonna continue to listen to himself until he thinks he can sing."

Will There Be A Wonka 2?

As Wonka continues to heat-up the box office charts, there are already observers wondering if there's a Wonka 2 in the mix. Well, director Paul King has heard some of those murmurs himself. The filmmaker joined Total Film magazine to talk about his movie. With the strength of Chalamet's performance and the relative size of this picture, it's not hard to see a path to more Willy Wonka movies. However, it remains up to the fans really.

"I would definitely like to do more," King explained to the outlet recently told Total Film magazine. "And I'd like to spend more time in this world. Dahl was definitely interested in taking Willy Wonka on. There's drafts that didn't really go anywhere, and there's a short story. He didn't really write sequels, but this was the one book where he clearly felt there was more in the tank there. There's an awful lot more Wonka story that we have that we would like to tell. It's not like Dune: Part One where you go, 'This is what's happening in Part Two.' Hopefully it works exquisitely as a stand-alone movie. But I would definitely like to do more. And I'd like to spend more time in this world, and meet some more Oompa Loompas.

Are you surprised by how well Wonka is doing? Let us know down in the comments!