‘Sonic’ Leads, ‘A Complete Unknown $1.4M Previews

Christmas Eve checkout at $25 million was 19% lower than Monday’s gross of DKK 30.9 million. USD, but the good news is that the free movie day was ahead of last year’s – which fell on a Sunday, the worst case scenario for the industry – by 34% to 18.6 million. Turnstiles are spinning out of control starting tonight for the next week and a half.

The breaking news was that Searchlight previews James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biography A complete unknown get off to a good start with $1.4 million on the way to an expected $15 million 5-day launch at 2,835 locations including Imax on January 3rd. Previews for the Timothée Chalamet starrer began at 2 p.m. Thursday, but that number also includes limited Alamo Drafthouse previews.

The 3x Golden Globe nominated film cost $60M-$70M before P&A, , we hear, an escalated budget due to increasing post-strike. Tuesday’s Christmas Eve previews are apples to oranges to previous music biopics that played on Thursdays during the summer, but for reference, Paramount’s Elton John film Rocketman made $2.3 million. ($25.7m opening) in May 2019, while Warner Bros’ Elvis submitted $3.5m. ($31.2 million) in June 2022. A complete unknown winning over the audience with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

RELATED: ‘A Complete Unknown’ review: Timothée Chalamet stuns as young Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s thrilling musical drama

Paramounts Sonic the Hedgehog 3 led the day along $7.5 million to Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King, which begins to close the gap at $7.1 million.

The top 5 for the day fell as follows:

1. ) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Pair) 3,761 theaters, ten $7.5 million (-25% from Monday), Total $77.6 million/Week 1

2.) Mufasa: The Lion King (Dis) 4,100 theaters, Tue $7.1 million (+1%), in total $49.6 million/Week 1

3.) Evil (Uni) 3,296 theatres, Tue $3.2 million (-31%), Total $392.4 million/Week 5

4.) Moana 2 (Dis) 3,600 theaters Tue $3 million (-28%), Total $366.3 million/Week 4

5.) Gladiator II (Pair) 2,397 theaters, ten $955,000 (-18%), Total $156.1 million/Week 5

RELATED: ‘A Complete Unknown’ Director James Mangold, Timothée Chalamet & Cast Reveal How They Recreated Dylan’s “Fable” & “Mystery”

We’ll update when we get previews from Amazon MGM’s The fire within. A24s Baby girl did not hold previews Tuesday. Both of these titles are looking at single-digit million openings during the Wednesday-to-Sunday period. Focus functions’ Nosferatu held only a limited number of Imax and 35MM previews last night; that Robert Eggers’ directed horror film has an eye for one $25 million 5 day debut. Current RT audience score on Nosferatu is 80%.