Migration is continuing its box office dominance. The 2023 holiday release is the newest animated movie from Illumination and follows a family of migrating ducks getting stuck in New York City with a voice cast that includes Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina, and Danny DeVito. Although the movie opened at No. 3 with a paltry $12.4 million (the worst-ever debut for an Illumination movie), it has become a major sleeper hit and has already climbed past the $250 million mark worldwide.
Per Variety, the Migration release has continued to climb up the domestic chart. In its tenth weekend, the movie has taken the No. 5 spot with a gross of $3 million, allowing its cumulative domestic total to hit the $120 million milestone. In the meantime, it has outgrossed the $118.6 million domestic haul of 2023’s animated hit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, becoming the 21st highest-grossing movie of the year and closing in on Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s domestic total of $123.8 million.
How Migration Compares to Other 2023 Animated Movies
This slow-burn box office success could be attributed to quite a few factors, including a dearth of new animated titles and largely positive Migration reviews. Whatever the case may be, the movie is excelling at an unusual level. While there are 12 animated movies in the domestic Top 100 for 2023 including Trolls Band Together, The Boy and the Heron, and Disney’s Wish, Migration is now the fourth highest-grossing animated release of the year. Below, check out where it ranks among the top five 2023 animated movies.
Rank | Title | Domestic Box Office |
|---|---|---|
#2 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie | $573.9 million |
#3 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | $381.6 million |
#17 | Elemental | $154.4 million |
#21 | Migration | $120 million |
#22 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem | $118.6 million |
Considering the fact that the Migration movie has been in theaters for two months and is now turning out seven-digit weekends, it seems unlikely that it will be able to surpass the domestic gross of Pixar’s Elemental, which is more than $30 million ahead. The 2023 holdover will also be facing its biggest challenge yet next weekend with the release of the sci-fi blockbuster sequel Dune: Part Two, which will severely limit the number of showtimes it can get. However, it still has the potential to enter the overall Top 20 if it can eke its way past Aquaman.
Regardless, any way it’s measured, Migration has pulled itself out of what seemed to be a nosedive to become an unqualified box office success. With a $72 million budget, the Illumination movie likely only needed to earn roughly $150 million to break even. Considering how much it has earned since then, every subsequent weekend at the box office is likely turning out pure profit for the surprise hit.
Migration
Migration is an animated adventure-comedy from Illumination and features an ensemble cast including Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Banks, Awkwafina, and Keegan-Michael Key. The cast takes on the role of a family of mallards who has lived in the safety of their pond all their lives and decide to migrate for a vacation. However, when the family discovers they migrated the wrong way, they end up in New York City, forcing them to find a way out and down to the Caribbean.
- Director
- Benjamin Renner
- Release Date
- December 22, 2023
- Studio(s)
- Illumination Entertainment
- Distributor(s)
- Universal Pictures
- Writers
- Mike White
- Cast
- Kumail Nanjiani , Elizabeth Banks , Keegan-Michael Key , David Mitchell , Carol Kane , Danny DeVito , Casper Jennings , Tresi Gazal
