Last week, Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé won out over its competitors in the first weekend of December. This past weekend saw a much more equitable distribution among films. The biggest surprise was The Boy and the Heron, a Japanese-made animated film directed by the celebrated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki. This film raked in $10.4 million over this past weekend stretching from December 8 through to December 10.

Meanwhile, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes was able to claim the second spot. It pulled in $9.40 million. Godzilla Minus One, a modern reboot/reimagining of the original Godzilla that was released in 1954. This Japanese-made film was a critical success and generated $8.34 million in box office revenues over the weekend.

Two children’s animated films rounded out the top five higher grossing films over this past weekend. Trolls Band Together and Wish pulled in $6.20 million and $5.30 million, respectively.

Cinema operators like AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) still have some movie releases to look forward to for the remainder of 2023. Next week, the Timothée Chalamet-led prequel Wonka will hit theatres. Some of the more promising releases to close out the year include Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Iron Claw, Ferrari, and the musical remake The Color Purple.

Shares of AMC Entertainment have plunged 77% in 2023 as of close on December 8. Moreover, the stock has dropped 85% in the year-over-year period