Aquaman easily continued its box office dominance for the third weekend in a row but Escape Room also made an impression it exceeded box office tracking in a big way.
Aquaman grossed an estimated $30.7 million, down 41.1% from last weekend. The film’s domestic total now stands at $259.7 million and is now even with Wonder Woman’s domestic performance after 16 days in release. It’s behind the pace of Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice but Wonder Woman scaled over that film after 23 days and Aquaman is sure to follow suit. The film is likely to place number one again for its fourth frame and if it does, it will be the first DCEU film to spend four weeks at number one. Internationally, Aquaman added another $56.2 million this weekend from 79 markets for a running overseas gross totaling $681 million and a global tally surpassing $940 million. The film’s international take is the largest among DC Comic adaptations, surpassing The Dark Knight Rises ($636.8 million) while the worldwide gross ranks third behind The Dark Knight Rises ($1.084 billion) and The Dark Knight ($1 billion). Aquaman’s leading overseas market is China with $282.8 million, nearly $250 million more than South Korea with $35.3 million. The February 8 release in Japan serves as the film’s last key market yet to see release.
Debuting impressively in second is Escape Room with an estimated $18 million. The film was tracking in the $10 million range so this is a huge win for Sony, considering the $9 million budget. After one weekend, I think sequel talks are probably happening at the studio and it proves once again that January is a prime time to release horror films. The film received a “B” CinemaScore which is solid for horror and even if it craters next weekend, it’s still going to be considered a win for the studio.
Dropping to third is Mary Poppins Returns with $15.7 million, down 44.4% from last weekend. The film has now surpassed its $130 million budget at the domestic box office with a gross of $138.7 million to date. The film came up emptyhanded at the Golden Globe Awards last night but it still has momentum with potential Oscar nominations. Internationally, the film added another $23 million this weekend helping push the overseas total just shy of $120 million for a worldwide gross that now totals $257.9 million with releases in Japan (2/1) and Korea (2/14) still on the horizon.
Maintaining fourth place is Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with an estimated $13 million, down 30% from last weekend. Spider-Verse has continued to show a lot of staying power and with a win for Best Animated Film at the Golden Globe Awards, it’s likely to continue its momentum. An Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film is a lock so Spider-Verse may continue to be a topic of conversation at the box office in the weeks ahead. The animated box office hit has grossed $133.8 million at the domestic box office and it added an additional $11.7 million overseas for an international total that now stands at $141.5 million.
Rounding out the top five is Bumblebee with an estimated $12.7 million, down 38.9%. Of the Christmas releases, Bumblebee has the smallest decline weekend to weekend (Spider-Verse opened a week before the holiday offerings) which bodes well for the film as it continues to find its audience. The film has grossed $97.1 million at the domestic box office and it made a big debut in China over the weekend with a gross of $59.4 million. The film’s international gross now stands at $192 million with Japan (March 22) serving as the final key market yet to release.
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 |
