Wonka Whizzes Past Johnny Depp's Chocolate Factory With $500 Million At The Global Box Office
It's Willy Wonka's world, we're just living in it. Despite entering its fifth weekend in theaters, Warner Bros.' musical prequel "Wonka" has continued to dominate, becoming the unexpected savior of the winter moviegoing season. The film crossed a major milestone over the weekend as it reached $500 million mark worldwide. It now ranks as the highest-grossing movie of the three based on Roald Dahl's classic children's book.
Director Paul King's musical look at Willy Wonka's origins added $8.4 million over the weekend (with that total growing to $10.8 million when we account for the Monday holiday), per The Numbers. It came in third place behind newcomers "The Beekeeper" ($16.5 million) and "Mean Girls" ($28.6 million), both of which did a little better than expected. "Wonka" has now earned $178.8 million domestically and $329.1 million overseas for a grand total of $507.9 million worldwide. Even with a hefty $125 million production budget, this has proved to be a huge winner for Warner Bros.
The film has already surpassed the global total of 2005's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." That adaptation, which was directed by Tim Burton, earned $475 million worldwide against a blockbuster $150 million budget. That movie was very much a success in its day, with Johnny Depp at the height of his powers as a movie star. Oddly enough, Burton had considered Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for the lead role at one point before ultimately deciding to reunite with Depp. In any event, King's prequel, which stars Timothée Chalamet in the lead role, has now made more money on a smaller budget. An absolute win.
Wonka is the unexpected hit of the winter season
Outside of this specific franchise, "Wonka" now stands as one of the highest-grossing movies released in 2023. It currently occupies the No. 9 spot for the year globally, just above Pixar's "Elemental" ($496 million) and just below "Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning" ($567 million). That's mighty impressive for a family-friendly musical that was released during a very crowded Christmas season. Heck, this wasn't even the only musical in theaters as "The Color Purple" arrived on Christmas Day. But Chalamet's star power and King's ability to craft a crowd-pleaser proved to be an incredible combination.
Theater owners were quite nervous heading into December, as things looked bleak. "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" was clearly not going to make what its predecessor made (and it hasn't), and there was no clear-cut blockbuster to bring out moviegoers like "Avatar: The Way of Water" did at the end of 2022 and early 2023. Remarkably, it's Chalamet's Willy Wonka who has emerged as the savior of the season. Given that "Wonka" only dropped 40% in its most recent weekend, it's still got gas in the tank as well. $600 million worldwide is not out of the question depending on how things shake out in the coming weeks.
"Wonka" is in theaters now.