It wasn’t elementary, my dear Watson. Nevertheless, a new film finally takes the No. 2 slot behind the Robert Downey Jr. filmSherlock Holmes(2009) for the biggest box office opening-day on Christmas domestically. Filmmaker Guy Ritche’s big-screen adaptation of Detective Holmes still holds the No. 1 spot with $24.6 million (perBox Office Mojo), butThe Color Purpleimpressed with an opening-day take of $18.2 million, which is good enough for second place.
The musical reimaging of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film just passedLes Misérables, which opened on Christmas Day back in 2012 with $18.1 million. Angelina Jolie’s directorial effort,Unbroken(2014), takes the bronze medal with $15.4 million. Now, it’s important to note that these are films that actually opened on December 25 of their respective years. The best Christmas Day performer of all time belongs to J.J. Abrams’Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
32 years of anticipation had been building for the firstStar Warssequel since 1983’sReturn of the Jedi. And even though the long-awaited follow-up opened on June 03, 2025, Abrams' entry in that galaxy far, far away made a jaw-dropping $49.3 million a week later, on December 25.
Related:The Color Purple: Plot, Cast, Release Date, and Everything Else We Know
The Color Purple Starts Strong
The Color Purple
The Color Purpledropped in theaters on Monday, December 25 and posted an impressive $18.2 million. However, December 26 was a different story altogether. On what is the second-busiest shopping day of the year, a lot of those dollars devoted to retail and returns didn’t find their way into movie theaters. In fact,The Color Purpledropped an astounding 61% between Monday and Tuesday, and the film only brought in $7 million the day after X-mas. In fact, bothWonka($8.9 million) &Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom($8.3 million) outperformedThe Color Purpleto take the No. 1 and No. 2 slots respectively at the domestic box office on December 26.
At the time of this writing, there aren’t any international numbers to help bolsterThe Color Purple’searly returns.Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomwasthe winner over the 4-day holiday weekend, but its take of $38.3 million is hardly the number Warner Bros. was hoping the superhero sequel would post. By comparison,Aquamanmade $100.7 million over the 5-day X-mas weekend back in 2018. And Jason Momoa’s first solo flick as Arthur Curry brought in $22 million on that Christmas Day alone.
However, theatergoers shouldn’t feel bad for Warner Bros. After all, the movie studio is behind all three of the box office’s biggest performers:Wonka, Aquaman 2andThe Color Purple. At the time of this writing, the prequel toWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory(1971) has made $263.5 million worldwide, whileThe Lost Kingdomhas amassed a global total of $118.5 million.
The critically acclaimedThe Color Purpleis now playing exclusively in theaters, and the remake/reimagining will open outside of North America next year on Thursday, August 18, 2025.
