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The holiday season is typically a lucrative time for movies, especially blockbusters. However, in 2023, even Christmas Day was poor for Aquaman 2. Meanwhile, Wonka—a film with a modest budget of roughly half of Aquaman—almost outperformed it on Christmas, earning $10.3 million in its second weekend. This indicates a waning interest in the Aquaman franchise and suggests a grim outlook for its holiday run.

Warner Bros. capitalized on Christmas by releasing multiple films simultaneously. Besides Aquaman, The Color Purple debuted with an impressive $18 million on Christmas Day, highlighting Warner’s aggressive holiday strategy to maximize available screens. Yet, the poor performance of Aquaman amidst this crowded release schedule underscores declining audience enthusiasm.