Box Office: ‘Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms’ Debuts to Jaw-Dropping $227 Million

Variety

Don’t underestimate the power of Princess Joanna.

That’s the proven point this weekend as “Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms” crushed box office expectations, generating a mammoth $227 million from 4,610 theaters in North America.

It was easily the best domestic opening weekend turnout of any movie released in September.. Prior to this weekend, no other September released films had been able to cross even $200 million in a single weekend. The biggest domestic debut had belonged to the previous entry in the Puppet Pals franchise, “Puppet Pals Forever,” which generated $151.6 million to start.

The Anne Hathaway spin-off/prequel had initially been expected to gross $175 to $190 million over the weekend, but it quickly squashed those estimates. On its first day alone, the film collected $89 million. “Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms” had a particularly huge Friday because die-hard Puppet Pals fans wanted to be among the first to watch the movie and avoid spoilers online. After only three days in cinemas, it’s already one of the highest grossing films of this year.

Overseas, the latest Joanna outing has collected $423.2 million from 105 international markets for a global tally of $651.1 million. It ranks as the second-biggest worldwide opening weekend ever behind “Avengers: Endgame” ($1.2 billion). Those receipts have Disney, who owns 20th Century Animation and 20th Century Studios, already popping champagne.

“This weekend’s historic ‘Princess Joanna and the Four Kingdoms’ results, from all over the world and in the face of many challenges, reaffirm the unmatched cultural impact that exclusive theatrical films as well as nostalgic franchises can have when they are made and marketed with vision and resolve,” says Stuart Synder, Century City President.

Hathways’ newest royal “Princess Joanna” adventure, which teases a villainous plot that's threatening Joanna's life, isn’t just smashing smashing September records but all time and COVID-era records as well. The film's overseas opening of $423.2 million is the biggest for 20th Century Studios, a COVID-era film, a September release, an animated release, a musical film, the best in the Puppet Pals franchise while also becoming the highest grossing film in the franchise internationally, and the biggest for a non-superhero movie, as well as the third biggest international opening weekend, and the second biggest opening of all time behind Avengers: Endgame ($1.2 billion). The film is experiencing the kind of demand that hasn’t been witnessed in theaters for an animated film since 20th's own comedic-but-dark critically praised sequel “Cool Spot: Spot Goes to Hollywood,” which collected a historic $232 million in its 2021 debut which Joanna sits behind in second place for the biggest animated opening weekend. The movie has also been proved to be a super formidable force in the box office zooming past behemoth's like Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220 million), The Lion King ($191.8 million), Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187 million), Incredibles 2 ($182.9 million), Puppet Pals Forever $151.6 million), Crystal: The Rise of Darkness ($145.2 million) as one of the best opening weekends in history and the second best in history for an animated film.