On This Day - December 20

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Record Day

The chart below contains the top 10 movies based on daily domestic revenue recorded on December 20.

Year Title Day of
Week
Day Domestic
Box Office
2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Friday $89,615,288 $515,202,542
2015 Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens Sunday $60,553,189 $936,662,225
2021 Spider-Man: No Way Home Monday $37,138,318 $814,811,535
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Saturday $27,492,053 $381,472,917
2024 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Friday $25,449,555 $236,115,100
2009 Avatar Sunday $24,744,346 $785,221,649
2014 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Saturday $21,397,014 $255,119,788
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Friday $19,224,340 $345,115,396
2022 Avatar: The Way of Water Tuesday $18,288,904 $684,075,767
2016 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Tuesday $17,582,978 $533,539,991

Record Opening Day

The chart below contains the top movies based on domestic opening day on December 20.

Year Title Day of
Week
Opening
Day
Domestic
Box Office
2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Friday $89,615,288 $515,202,542
2024 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Friday $25,449,555 $236,115,100
2024 Mufasa: The Lion King Friday $13,340,381 $254,567,693
2017 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Wednesday $7,208,112 $404,508,916
2006 Rocky Balboa Wednesday $6,204,105 $70,269,899
2002 Two Weeks Notice Friday $4,664,000 $93,354,918
2024 Homestead Friday $2,905,419 $20,811,864
2002 Gangs of New York Friday $2,872,500 $77,730,500
2019 Cats Friday $2,599,660 $27,166,770
2017 The Greatest Showman Wednesday $2,451,071 $174,340,174

Record Weekend

The chart below contains the top 10 movies based on domestic revenue recorded on a weekend where Friday, Saturday or Sunday was December 20.

Year Title Weekend Domestic
Box Office
2015 Star Wars Ep. VII: The Force Awakens $247,966,675 $936,662,225
2019 Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker $177,383,864 $515,202,542
2009 Avatar $77,025,481 $785,221,649
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $72,629,713 $381,472,917
2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $62,007,528 $345,115,396
2024 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 $60,102,146 $236,115,100
2014 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies $54,724,334 $255,119,788
2024 Mufasa: The Lion King $35,409,365 $254,567,693
2013 The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug $31,505,278 $258,241,522
1997 Titanic $28,638,131 $674,460,013

Future Releases

Movies to be released on this date in the future: 2028: Untitled Universal Event Film

Born and Died

Born on this day in history: Charley Grapewin (1869, died on February 2, 1956 at the age of 86), Irene Dunne (1898, died on September 4, 1990 at the age of 91), Albert Dekker (1905, died on May 5, 1968 at the age of 62), Audrey Totter (1917, died on December 12, 2013 at the age of 95), George Roy Hill (1922, died on December 27, 2002 at the age of 80), Christopher Knopf (1927, died on February 13, 2019 at the age of 91), John Hillerman (1932, died on November 9, 2017 at the age of 84), Kathryn Joosten (1939, died on June 2, 2012 at the age of 72), Angel Tompkins (1942, turns 83 this year), Jimmie F. Skaggs (1944, died on July 6, 2004 at the age of 59), Dick Wolf (1946, turns 79 this year), John Spencer (1946, died on December 16, 2005 at the age of 58), Leigh Hamilton (1949, died on September 8, 2012 at the age of 62), Jenny Agutter (1952, turns 73 this year), Michael Badalucco (1954, turns 71 this year), David Breashears (1955, died on March 14, 2024 at the age of 68), Joyce Hyser (1955, turns 70 this year), Blanche Baker (1956, turns 69 this year), Kim Ki-Duk (1960, died on December 11, 2020 at the age of 59), Joel Gretsch (1963, turns 62 this year), Iqbal Theba (1963, turns 62 this year), Robert Gustafsson (1964, turns 61 this year), Robert Cavanah (1965, turns 60 this year), Chris Robinson (1966, turns 59 this year), Joe Cornish (1968, turns 57 this year), Eduardo Sanchez (1968, turns 57 this year), Nadia Fares (1968, turns 57 this year), Brian O'Halloran (1969, turns 56 this year), Todd Phillips (1970, turns 55 this year), Nicole de Boer (1970, turns 55 this year), Alexandre Willaume (1972, turns 53 this year), Ramon Rodriguez (1979, turns 46 this year), Melanie Scrofano (1981, turns 44 this year), Jonah Hill (1983, turns 42 this year), Jo Jo (1990, turns 35 this year), Joanna "JoJo" Levesque (1990, turns 35 this year), Jillian Rose Reed (1991, turns 34 this year), Colin Woodell (1991, turns 34 this year), Azie Tesfai (1992, turns 33 this year)

Died on this day in history: C. Aubrey Smith (1948, at the age of 85), Peter Brocco (1992, at the age of 89), Madge Sinclair (1995, at the age of 57), Carl Sagan (1996, at the age of 62), Irving Rapper (1999, at the age of 101), Jeanne Carmen (2007, at the age of 77), Robert Mulligan (2008, at the age of 83), Brittany Murphy (2009, at the age of 32), Angela McEwan (2015, at the age of 81), Michèle Morgan (2016, at the age of 96), Michèle Morgan (2016, at the age of 96), Donald Moffat (2018, at the age of 87), Nicete Bruno (2020, at the age of 87), Quinn K. Redeker (2022, at the age of 86)

Note: The charts on this page are not adjusted for inflation.