Normally you'd wait till the Weekend Actuals are out. But the numbers are delayed due to the holidays, so you'll only have estimates for now. The same could happen next week.

It was a fierce battle at the box office.

Sonic 3 and Mufasa: The Lion King fought for the top spot, with the hedgehog currently leaning on the top spot for now. On Christmas, we got 4 newcomers, with mixed results. Nosferatu delivered a fantastic debut and became Robert Eggers' highest grossing film in just 5 days, while A Complete Unknown had a very solid start. On the other hand, Babygirl had a soft start, while The Fire Inside failed to attract interest.

The Top 10 earned a combined $159.2 million this weekend. That's up a huge 58% from last year, when Wonka returned to the top spot.

Staying on top, Sonic 3 earned $38 million this weekend ($59.9 million five-day). That represents a 37% drop, which is better than the previous films. There were concerns over the weekdays, as it appeared that it was front-loaded and would show weak legs, but it looks like it recovered for now.

Through ten days, the film has amassed $136.8 million. It should have another great hold this weekend, which will allow it to hit $200 million very soon. It can go as high as $250 million at this pace.

Settling for second place, Mufasa made $37.1 million this weekend ($63.7 million five-day). That's a very nice 5% increase from last weekend. It had a soft debut but it's showing some strength. Through 10 days, it has made $113.4 million. Despite this increase, the film is still off a massive 68% from the 2019 film through the same point. We'll see how much it can earn through the holidays.

Exceeding expectations, Robert Eggers' Nosferatu debuted with a fantastic $21.1 million this weekend ($40.3 million five-day). This is not just Eggers' biggest debut by a wide margin, but it's already his highest grossing film domestically, passing The Northman ($34.2 million). It's also the fourth biggest debut for Focus Features.

This is an amazing result in any sense of the word, and showed that Eggers could finally hit the mainstream audience (The Northman was supposed to be that film, but it didn't quite land at the box office). But that still raises the question: how was this film able to debut this high and far above Eggers' films? Credit must go to a fantastic marketing campaign, which offered enough intrigue and darkness to attract audiences. The decision to hide Bill Skarsgård's appearance as the iconic Count Orlok from the trailers panned out very well; if you want to watch him, you have to pay a ticket.

It can be said that Eggers' brand has also increased in past years. While The Northman wasn't a box office hit, Focus Features confirmed that the film eventually became profitable after a few months thanks to strong VOD numbers and other post-theatrical markets, and this was a big reason why they were confident in greenlighting Nosferatu. Also, while remaking a 1922 silent German Expressionist film feels like it would struggle to get recognition, Nosferatu actually had some exposure to the audience. A lot of kids were introduced to this character in that iconic SpongeBob SquarePants episode. That helped the film build awareness.

According to Focus Features, 55% of the audience was male and 56% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. While critics raved about the film, audiences wasn't as much; they gave it a weak "B–" on CinemaScore. That's not actually a bad score for a horror film, given they often fall in the C range. Nevertheless, without horror competition till Wolf Man in mid January, Nosferatu should hold well through the holidays. While it's unclear how much it can earn, one thing is clear: this is hitting $100 million domestically, which is an amazing result.

Wicked rose 37%, adding $19.4 million this weekend ($31.7 million five-day). On Christmas day, it added a sing-along version, which boosted the numbers. The film has earned a fantastic $424 million so far.

After its weak legs, Moana 2 had its best drop so far. It jumped 38%, adding $18.2 million this weekend. A much needed recovery, given it wasn't holding well after its gigantic opening. The film has earned $394.6 million so far, and will hit the $400 million milestone in a few days.

Debuting in sixth place, Searchlight's A Complete Unknown earned $11.6 million ($23.1 million five-day). This is one of the best debuts for Searchlight, and its opening day ($7.2 million) was a record for the studio. If we want to compare it to James Mangold's films, the five-day debut is slightly above of what Walk the Line made in 3 days ($22.3 million).

This is a solid start, and the only reason why it's not fantastic is that it's carrying an extensive $60-$70 million budget, putting a lot of pressure in the film. Bob Dylan is one of the most iconic singers and songwriters of the past century, although he is still not as popular as other musicians in other biopics. For example, Queen, Elton John and Bob Marley are more popular with current audiences than Dylan. So the film had only one selling point: its star Timothée Chalamet.

Like him or not, Chalamet is one of the most popular young stars of our times. He already had huge hits in the past year with Wonka and Dune: Part Two, and he's already set for another film, Marty Supreme, which also opens on Christmas Day next year. Deadline reported that 36% of the audience watched the film for Chalamet, cementing a status as a box office draw. Reviews were also solid enough to win over audiences, and some Oscar buzz is on the horizon.

According to Searchlight, the audience was equally split between men and women. Unsurprisingly, the big demo was adults; 62% of the audience was 35 and over. They gave it a strong "A" on CinemaScore, which bodes very well for its legs. And you have to remember that this is targeting an old audience, which doesn't rush out to watch a film as soon as possible. We'll keep an eye on this one, but the incoming Oscar buzz should help it stay in theaters for quite a long time.

In a distant seventh place, A24's Babygirl earned $4.3 million ($7.2 million five-day). That's quite a soft start, especially considering that the film was playing in 2,115 theaters, and the fact that A24 pushed it as its main attraction for the holidays.

The film is sold as an erotic thriller, but that can be a mixed bag at the box office. Outside the Fifty Shades of Grey, erotic thrillers haven't performed very well at the box office. And despite having a big name in Nicole Kidman, she hasn't had a good run as of late; she hasn't had a single box office hit since The Upside back in 2019. Her recent success has been on streaming and on TV, leaving questions over her star power at the box office (even though she's the face of AMC).

According to A24, 53% of the audience was female and 44% of the audience was 35 and over. While critics were positive of the film, the audience wasn't forgiving; they gave it a very weak "B–" on CinemaScore, which might be due to the nature of the film itself. While Kidman has some Oscar buzz, it would be a surprise if the film made anything above $20 million domestically.

Gladiator II continues showing some great late legs. The film eased just 9% and earned $4.1 million this weekend. That takes its domestic total to $163 million. It's gonna head to around $175 million.

Angel Studios' Homestead had the worst drop in the Top 10. It dropped 47%, adding $3.1 million this weekend. That takes its domestic total to $12.8 million, and it suggests that it will fall off when the holidays are over.

Rounding up the Top 10 was the last newcomer of the week, Amazon MGM's The Fire Inside. Despite setting it at 2,006 theaters, the film bombed with just $2 million ($4.3 million five-day). That's the 28th worst debut for any film playing at 2,000+ theaters.

This isn't a surprising result. Amazon didn't appear to focus on properly marketing the film, choosing to simply dump it on Christmas and hoping that it would find an audience. After all, The Boys in the Boat over-performed last year, showing there was a market for sports dramas. But the film simply lacked a hook; people simply weren't interested in Claressa Shields' story. Even with the talent involved, it simply wasn't enough.

According to MGM, 51% of the audience was female and 51% was 35 and over. On the bright side, the audience gave it a strong "A" on CinemaScore, which fits nicely with its great reviews. But even with that, it's unlikely it can turn things around.

Kraven the Hunter slightly recovered after its awful second weekend drop, even if it fell on the bad side of the drops. It dropped 44%, adding $1.7 million this weekend. Sadly, with an anemic $21.3 million domestic total so far, there's nothing to celebrate here. It might hit $25 million, but it won't get much higher than that.

But while Kraven kept showing weak legs, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim does not appear to have any legs. The film collapsed 63%, earning just $455,000 this weekend. Absolutely horrible considering the rest of the films had fantastic holds. The film has made just $8.5 million domestically, and it's now guaranteed to finish below $10 million.

Paramount chose to open the Robbie Williams biopic Better Man in 6 theaters, ahead of its wide release on January 10. But the film flopped with just $18,000 ($35,000 five-day), which translates to a very poor $3,000 per-theater average. Not a surprise, considering Williams failed to find an audience in America. This is a bad sign for its wide release.

OVERSEAS

Mufasa was still on top in the rest of the world, albeit only slightly. It added $77 million this weekend, taking its worldwide total to $327 million. The best markets currently are France ($20.9M), UK ($15.8M), Mexico ($15.5M), Italy ($14.4M) and Germany ($13.6M).

Sonic 3 made its debut in the rest of the world, debuting with a dazzling $74 million in 52 markets, taking its worldwide total to $210 million. That's a huge 83% of the second film's debut. The best debuts were the UK ($15.1M), Mexico ($10.3M), France ($7.3M), Australia ($5.5M), Germany ($5.5M), Spain ($3.3M), Panama ($2.3M); Peru ($1.6M), Colombia ($1.3M) and Malaysia ($1.3M), all of which were records for the franchise. It should have no problem hitting $500 million, and it still has some markets left.

Moana 2 added $36 million this weekend, and its worldwide total is now $882 million. The best markets are France ($53.9M), UK ($42.6M), Germany ($34.8M), Mexico ($28.2M) and Brazil ($25.7M).

In a major milestone, Wicked has now passed Mamma Mia! to become the highest grossing Broadway adaptation, with a current worldwide total of $634 million. The best markets are the UK ($67M), Australia ($24.8M), Korea ($14.2M), Germany ($11.8M) and Mexico ($9.9M).

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Heretic Nov/8 A24 $10,829,810 $27,716,205 $42,703,807 $10M A24's Heretic has closed with $42 million worldwide. That's a very solid start, even if the film didn't have a lot of staying power after its good debut. If Hugh Grant making a Jar-Jar impression is not enough to get you to buy a ticket, nothing will.