Aquamanis king of the box office, but it’s no “James Cameron’sAquaman.” The DC film debuted to a robust $67.4 million this weekend, falling short of the fictional record-breaking opening weekend of “James Cameron’sAquaman” which was a plot point on HBO’sEntourageand the go-toAquamanjoke for years. This is no laughing matter for Warner Bros., however, asAquamanwas a big question mark following the disastrous performance ofJustice Leaguelast year. Questions loomed regarding whetherJustice Leaguehad soured audiences on the DCEU andJason Momoa’s Aquaman for good, or if directorJames Wan’s standalone film could truly stand alone.
As it turns out, it’s the latter. The film received an A- CinemaScore from audiences and fairly positive reviews, and if you include paid sneak peeks, the film’s domestic total now stands at a solid $72.1 million. While that’s short of the opening weekends of the previous DC moviesWonder Woman($103 million),Suicide Squad($133 million),Man of Steel($116 million), andBatman v Superman($166 million), it’s to be expected given the holiday framing forAquaman.
Indeed, the pre-Christmas box office is usually a bit softer than summer opening weekends, as films get a jump start and then pull in big money over the Christmas through New Year’s holiday break. It’s unclear just how highAquamanwill go, but the film has already brought in $482.8 million worldwide. So yes, this is a win for Warner Bros.
Aquaman’s opening was slightly lower than tracking suggested, but that was a common refrain with new releases this weekend asMary Poppins ReturnsandBumblebeealso opened below tracking. The former pulled in $22.2 million over the weekend with a five-day total of $31 million, and no doubt Disney is hopingMary Poppins Returnsfollows a similar word-of-mouth path that pushedThe Greatest Showmanto $434 million worldwide after a less-than-stellar December opening weekend. All eyes will be on next week, when Disney expects families will turn toMary Poppins Returnsas their Christmas outing.
Mary Poppins Returnsalso scored an A- CinemaScore, as didBumblebee, which came in close behind the Disney sequel with $21 million for the weekend.Bumblebeewas actually the best-reviewed new release of the weekend and could enjoy strong word-of-mouth in the weeks to come as well. Paramount faced an uphill battle there convincing peopleBumblebeewas worth a shot following the complete and utter audience rejection ofTransformers: The Last Knight, which opened with just $44 million in the heart of summer 2017.
One new release that didn’t pop isRobert Zemeckis’Welcome to Marwen, which was D.O.A. with a paltry $2.4 million for the weekend. Universal Pictures pretty much hid the film from critics, setting a late embargo just before the movie hit theaters. Reviews weren’t too kind to the odd drama, and it appears audiences just simply had no interest. And a B- CinemaScore suggests even those that did show up weren’t too happy with what they saw.
In other bad box office news,Mortal Enginestumbled 77% in its second weekend to a mere $1.7 million, bringing its worldwide total to $54.3 million. That’s a disastrous performance for the Universal Pictures film, though you can’t say they didn’t try—producer and co-writerPeter Jackson’s name was plastered all over the marketing.
As for holdovers, the excellentSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versedropped 54% and pulled in $16.5 million, but I expect that film—bolstered by impeccable reviews—will do well next week. And Universal’sThe Grinch, despite opening in November, is still chugging along, pulling in $8.2 million this weekend for a worldwide total of $422.5 million.
Check out the full top 10 below and stay tuned next week as families flock to theaters.
$67,400,000
$72,100,000
Mary Poppins Returns
$22,235,000
$31,049,671
$21,000,000
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
$16,700,000
$64,800,063
$9,950,000
$35,653,465
The Grinch
$8,180,000
$253,218,975
Second Act
$6,501,000
Ralph Breaks the Internet
$4,599,000
$162,093,930
Welcome to Marwen
$2,538,000
Mary Queen of Scots
$2,240,000
$3,544,755
