“Slow and steady” seems to be the mantra of latter 2023 animation releases. Two new original features from the centenary studio Disney and more recently launched hitmaker Illumination are on track to strong performances worldwide, in spite of less than explosive openings.
Disney’s Wish, which opened domestically on November 22 and came in No. 3 for the Thanksgiving spread, upped its worldwide box office total to $209.5 million in its seventh weekend. While the old year has closed, this milestone places the musical fantasy as the fourth highest-grossing animated release of 2023, moving it up the rankings past Trolls Band Together ($200.95M) and PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie ($202.2M). To date, Wish has picked up $62M domestically.
Meanwhile, Illumination’s year-end release Migration was able to hit the big $150 million milestone at the global box office. The movie, which was released on Dec. 22 in the U.S., is continuing to draw families to theaters all around the world. Directed by French helmer Benjamin Renner, who is best known for 2D hand-drawn pics such as The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales and Ernest & Celestine, the film has made over $150.798 million to date. Domestically, the film has grossed over $77.8M from 3,839 theaters. While the film didn’t initially do as well as Illumination’s other franchises, opening at No. 3, it has bounced around the Top 5 in NorAm since its debut and is building a slow and steady fan base globally, especially since the next big studio animated movie (DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda 4) doesn’t arrive in theaters until March 8.
[Sources: Deadline, Collider, BoxOfficeMojo]
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