For the second consecutive week, Broadway‘s Paranormal Activity sold out the August Wilson Theatre, and even with five heavily comped press previews the Levi Holloway play grossed $729,250.
Paranormal, directed by Felix Barrett and inspired by the popular film franchise, began previews August 14 and opens tonight.
The other big box office news for the Broadway week ending August 23 was the revitalization of Moulin Rouge! The Musical, which surged by more than $1 million at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre with the return of original cast member Aaron Tveit. The week’s gross of $2,196,205 topped the chart and is a jump of $1,111,547 over the previous week.
Aaron Tveit in ‘Moulin Rouge!’
Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade
Tony winner Tveit will continue in the role of Christian through the show’s planned closing this weekend, August 30.
In all, the 26 Broadway productions – one fewer than the previous week – grossed $24,840,816, down about 8% from the previous week and 13% from last year at this time. Attendance of 219,152 was down just 3% from the previous week, and 9% year-to-year.
In addition to Paranormal Activity and Moulin Rouge!, the sell-outs for the week included Hamilton and Just in Time, with Hadestown and Oh, Mary! just shy at 99% of capacity. Shows with attendance of 90% of capacity or more included MJ, Schmigadoon!, The Book of Mormon, The Lion King and The Rocky Horror Show.
Rocky Horror bucked an overall downward trend during the summer dog days, with grosses up $120,328 to $949,446 for the final week or original cast members Luke Evans, Stephanie Hsu and Andrew Durand. Jake Shears takes over for Evans on September 11, with Lorna Courtney and Kevin McHale joining the cast August 25.
Falling at or below the 80% mark were & Juliet, Chicago, Six (at 60%), Stranger Things: The First Shadow (65%), The Great Gatsby and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) (62%). With Tom Felton out of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the week (on a scheduled vacation), grosses dropped a big $855,767 to $871,307; attendance went from the usual near sell-out to 71% of capacity.
The top five earners for the week were Moulin Rouge!, Hamilton ($1,972,219); The Lion King ($1,821,416); MJ ($1,729,644) and The Lost Boys ($1,154,262). Top ticket price was Moulin Rouge! at $210.38, a wide margin over the overall Broadway average of $113.35.
In the 13th week of the 2026-27 season, Broadway has grossed season-to-date $437,285,438, down about 5% from last year at this time, with total attendance of 3,566,636 down just 1% year-to-year.
All figures courtesy of The Broadway League. For more box office information visit the League’s website.
