Jan 2, 2024

After a slow start, "Migration" made an impressive comeback during the holiday week.

Benjamin Renner's "Migration" got off to a slow start in its debut weekend, but after a strong weekend over the holidays, the film has surpassed the $100 million mark at the worldwide box office.

Over the past three days, Illumination's latest film has grossed an estimated $17 million in the U.S., placing it third behind "Aquaman & the Lost Kingdom" and "Wonka. "Migration earned another $5 million on Monday, bringing its domestic box office after 11 days of release to reached $59.1 million. This is only $2 million behind Disney's "Wish" ($61.1 million domestic), which has been in theaters for 41 days.

Migration's impressive holiday season box office performance bodes well for the film's long-term box office prospects. Something similar happened last year with Universal's "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," which was distributed by Universal.

As was the case in the U.S., "Migration" finished the NYE weekend in third place at the global box office. The film earned $17.1 million from 68 international markets and now has a worldwide total of $105.6 million.

"Migration" is unlikely to reach the $484.6 million worldwide total of "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," but it will be the strongest-grossing original animated film (without a sequel or original story) since the pandemic and almost will almost certainly be profitable. According to Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri, the budget for "Migration" was $72 million.

The only other animated film to make the NYE weekend domestic top 10 was Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Hare," which grossed $2.5 million in its first three days and another $850,000 on Monday. The Studio Ghibli animated feature grossed $36.8 million at the North American box office to become the fifth highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S., closing in fast on fourth-place "Dragon Ball Super (Super Hero)" at $38.1 million. The worldwide box office total for "The Boy and the Hare" reached $128.7 million.

"Trolls Band Together" grossed $2 million in the U.S. over the four-day weekend, bringing its domestic total to $98.1 million. Worldwide, DreamWorks' latest film has grossed $198.7 million. Disney's "Wish" earned $1.8 million in the same four-day period, bringing its North American total to $60.6 million. The film continued to do well overseas, bringing in $15.4 million over the weekend. Its worldwide total, including Monday, reached $176.9 million.