NEW YORK — “Wonka” debuted with $39 million in field workplace gross sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters over the weekend, in line with studio estimates Sunday. That made it a robust begin for the Timothée Chalamet-starring Willy Wonka musical that underscored the younger star’s draw.

Musicals have been powerful sells in theaters in recent times, a lot in order that Warner Bros. downplayed the music and dance parts of “Wonka” in trailers. As an alternative, the studio emphasised Chalamet, the 27-year-old actor who, with “Wonka,” notched his second No. 1 film following 2021’s “Dune.” The sooner movie recorded a $41 million opening.

Whereas “Dune” was a sprawling and star-studded sci-fi journey, “Wonka” depends mainly on Chalamet’s charisma.

“Wonka,” which price about $125 million to provide and performed at 4,203 places, was additionally the primary huge Hollywood launch to launch following the tip of the SAG-AFTRA actors’ strike. Chalamet hosted “Saturday Night time Reside” simply days after the strike ended. In his opening monologue, he sang to the tune of “Pure Creativeness” about “returning to this magical world the place actors can promote their initiatives.”

“It exhibits you the ability of a star, and it additionally exhibits you the ability of a star going out and dealing a film,” mentioned Jeffrey Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros. “Having him on the market after the strikes have been over was a win for him and a win for the film.”

Goldstein expects “Wonka” to be the go-to alternative from households over the vacations. Its most important competitors for teenagers will probably be Common Footage’ animated “Migration.”

PHOTOS: ‘Wonka’ waltzes to $39 million opening, propelled by Chalamet’s starring position

“Wonka,” directed by Paul King of “Paddington” and “Paddington 2,” is a prequel to 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Manufacturing facility,” with Chalamet starring as a younger Wonka attempting to open a sweet retailer. Its ensemble solid consists of Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman and Keegan-Michael Key.

Warner Bros. final revived Roald Dahl’s basic with the 2005 Tim Burton-directed “Charlie and the Chocolate Manufacturing facility,” starring Johnny Depp. It debuted with $56.2 million and in the end grossed $475 million worldwide.

To achieve these numbers, “Wonka” will want sturdy legs via the profitable vacation moviegoing interval. On its facet are largely good opinions (84% “recent” on Rotten Tomatoes) and constructive viewers response (an “A-” CinemaScore).

Chalamet can also be drawing youthful ticket-buyers. Moviegoers below the age of 25 accounted for 36% of the viewers, which was break up evenly between 51% females and 49% males. “Wonka” added $53.6 million in abroad ticket gross sales.

“Chalamet is a real film star who’s been creating his craft and his repute over a few years,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “All people’s searching for who’s the subsequent huge film star. Is all of it concerning the old-school main males? Chalamet is unquestionably that.”

For Warner Bros., it’s the primary in a trio of high-profile vacation releases, to be adopted by “Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom” on Dec. 22 and one other musical, “The Shade Purple” on Dec. 25.

The one different new huge launch in theaters was “Christmas With the Chosen: Holy Night time,” from Christian-theme distributor Angel Studios. It debuted with $2.9 million in gross sales via 2,094 theaters.

“The Starvation Video games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” once more ranked second this week with $5.8 million in its fifth week of launch. The Lionsgate “Starvation Video games” prequel, now as much as $145.2 million domestically and greater than $300 million globally, has held sturdy week after week.

Final week’s high movie, Hayao Miyazaki’s “The Boy and the Heron,” dipped to 3rd with $5.1 million in its second week of launch. The most recent movie from the 82-year-old Japanese anime grasp has already set information for Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli and its North American distributor GKids.

With holdovers making up many of the high 10 motion pictures in theaters, the weekend’s different most notable enterprise was a bunch of award contenders attempting to make their mark following Monday’s Golden Globes nominations.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Issues,” a surreal Frankenstein-esque fairy story starring Emma Stone, expanded into 82 theaters and grossed $1.3 million for Searchlight Footage. The movie, which is able to increase additional within the coming weeks, is nominated for seven Golden Globes, together with greatest comedy or musical.

Twine Jefferson’s “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright as a sardonic novelist, debuted in seven theaters in three cities with a $32,411 per-screen common. MGM’s “American Fiction,” nominated for 2 Globes, will increase to 40 theaters subsequent week. It gained the viewers award on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant in September.

Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Curiosity,” a chilling Holocaust drama a few Nazi commandant and his household dwelling subsequent to Auschwitz, opened in 4 theaters with a $31,198 per-screen common. Nominated for 3 Globes, it would play in restricted launch earlier than increasing in January.

Estimated ticket gross sales are for Friday via Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, in line with Comscore. Last home figures will probably be launched Monday.

1. “Wonka,” $39 million.

2. “The Starvation Video games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” $5.8 million.

3. “The Boy and the Heron,” $5.2 million.

4. “Godzilla Minus One,” $4.9 million.

5. “Trolls Band Collectively,” $4 million.

6. “Want,” $3.2 million.

7. “Christmas With the Chosen: Holy Night time,” $2.9 million.

8. “Napoleon,” $2.2 million.

9. “Renaissance: A Movie by Beyoncé,” $2 million.