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Hollywood Bets on Thanksgiving Rebound: Will ‘Wicked,’ ‘Gladiator II’ and ‘Moana 2’ Revive the Sluggish Fall Box Office?

Exhibitors need holiday blockbusters like ‘Wicked’ and “‘Gladiator II’” to bring a feast after the fall’s box office famine.

And while December will offer “The Lion King” prequel “Mufasa” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” this Christmas season could be more muted since there’s no guaranteed billion-dollar blockbuster, à la “Avatar,” “Star Wars” or ‘“Spider-Man,” to close out 2024 and shrink the year-to-date deficit. The holiday hit a high-water mark in 2018 with $315 million in grosses across all films, led by “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” and “Creed II.” Since COVID, though, Thanksgivings have mostly been meh, with more bombs (Disney Animation’s “Strange World” and “Wish”) than winners (Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”). Recent misfires like “Joker: Folie à Deux” and Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s romantic action-comedy “The Fall Guy” have punctuated a sobering post-pandemic trend — and proven that nothing is sure-fire at the box office.

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