Aquaman declared itself the early leader of the new holiday releases and made a splashing debut at the top of the box office.
Aquaman grossed an estimated $67.4 million over the weekend and brings its total to $72.1 million once you factor in the $4.7 million in grosses from pre-weekend Amazon Prime showings. At its current trajectory, it should have about $105 million once we hit Christmas and it will most likely play extremely well throughout the holiday. The film has dropped to a 63% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes but audiences seem to love it with the audience score at 86% and an “A-” CinemaScore from opening day moviegoers. Worldwide, the film is the #1 release at the global box office for the third week in a row, bringing in another $91.3 million overseas this weekend from 70 markets for an international gross that now stands at $410.7 million and a global tally totaling $482.8 million.
Landing in second is Mary Poppins Returns with $22.2 million. Since opening on Wednesday the film has grossed $31 million. On paper, this seems a bit below expectations since it was tracking to clear $65 million over five days but musicals tend to leg out over the holiday so Mary Poppins Returns is still in a position to shine. The film received an “A-” CinemaScore so audiences are liking what they see and now it all comes down to word of mouth driving it. Internationally, Mary Poppins Returns delivered an estimated $20.3 million from its first 17 markets, including a #1 start in the UK with an estimated $9.4 million. Additional openings include Italy ($2.8 million), France ($2 million), Germany ($1.9 million) and Spain ($1.4 million). The film expands further next weekend, debuting in Mexico, Denmark, Finland, Norway and many more with early January openings set for Australia and Russia and February debuts set for Japan and South Korea.
Arriving in third, and coming a lot closer to Mary Poppins Returns than anticipated, is Bumblebee with an estimated $21 million. This is a solid start for the film which came into the weekend as the best-reviewed film of the new wide releases and moviegoers love it too as it was granted an “A-” CinemaScore. Bumblebee should see a pretty lengthy and successful run, even with similar films such as Aquaman and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse getting attention as well. Internationally, Bumblebee opened in 38 markets with an estimated $31.1 million led by $4.9 million openings in both Russia and Indonesia. Additional openings include Mexico ($3.9 million), Australia ($2.8 million), Malaysia ($2.6 million), Germany ($1.8 million), Thailand ($1.2 million) and Singapore ($1.2 million). The film will expand into 17 additional markets next week including France, UK, Brazil, Korea, and Spain with a January 4 release set for China and a March 22 release planned for Japan.
Dropping to fourth is Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse with an estimated $16.7 million. The 52.8% drop is a bit higher than expected but that just goes to show you how much current competition there is at the box office. I think the film will definitely level off and still perform well as it’s a solid option for families over the holiday. The film has grossed $64.8 million at the domestic box office and it also began its run in China this weekend, debuting at #1 with an estimated $26.1 million contributing to a $38 million international weekend and an overseas gross that now stands at $64.8 million. The film is still yet to open in Mexico (Dec 25), Italy (Dec 25), Brazil (Jan 10) and Japan (Mar 28).
Rounding out the top five is The Mule with an estimated $9.9 million. The drop of 43.2% is actually pretty solid considering the competition and it looks like The Mule is the go-to option for adult audiences over the holiday. The film has a domestic total of $35.6 million to date and it’s still on its way to having a pretty impressive run at the box office.
You’ll find our other new wide release in seventh place as Second Act, starring Jennifer Lopez, grossed an estimated $6.5 million. This is a bit lower than tracking was indicating but thanks to its low $16 million budget, the film is likely to leg it out to profitability but it certainly won’t be a massive hit by any means. The film scored a “B+” CinemaScore which is encouraging and it played well with its target audience which was 70% female with 51% of the overall audience coming in between the ages of 25 and 44 and 75% of the total audience aged 25 or older.
Our last new wide release, Welcome To Marwen, is D.O.A. with an estimated $2.3 million in ninth place. The film received a “B-” CinemaScore which means this film will be the lump of coal of the holiday season and it’s not going to come close to recouping its $39 million budget.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
