So, the Christmas weekend box office total—$163 million—wasn’t entirely on par with the pre-pandemic 2019 sum of $197 million. But in a season without a single Star Wars- or Avatar-sized tentpole, the 14 percent drop from the Before Times number may even be rosier than it initially appears. In a year billed as a Great Holding Pattern of sorts, marred by lingering pandemic distortions and post-strike delays—a rebuilding year for the theatrical business and its Survive Until ’25 mantra—this past weekend modeled a formula: It wasn’t about a single, overperforming tentpole, but rather a slew of thrillers, comedies, biopics, musicals, animated films, and horror movies, all performing solidly.