NEW YORK (AP) -- "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" kept the box-office crown for the fourth straight weekend, and the comic holiday thriller "Violent Night" debuted with $13.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. But the biggest talking point on the weekend was a movie conspicuously absent from theaters.
Had Netflix kept Rian Johnson's whodunit sequel "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" in theaters, it would have been one of the weekend's top draws. Last weekend, the streamer -- in its first such pact with North America's top chains -- released "Glass Onion" in about 600 theaters. While significantly less than the 4,000-plus theaters most big movies open in, the Netflix film reportedly grossed about $15 million -- an enviable total for a medium-scaled release.
Netflix declined to release ticket sales and pulled "Glass Onion" on Tuesday, preferring to keep its release limited to a one-week sneak-peak theatrical run before debuting on the streaming service Dec. 23. Netflix's focus, its executives have said, is driving subscribers to its streaming service.
So instead of feasting on "Glass Onion," as ticket buyers did after Thanksgiving in 2019 when Lionsgate released "Knives Out," moviegoers were fed mostly leftovers this weekend.
This image released by Netflix shows Daniel Craig in a scene from "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery." (John Wilson/Netflix via AP)