Aquaman ended up on Santa’s nice list this year as it becomes one of six films in history to gross north of $20 million on Christmas Day at the box office.
Christmas Day bragging rights belong to Aquaman which grossed $22 million on the holiday which is up 102% from Christmas Eve. By securing this gross, Aquaman becomes one of six films to surpass $20 million on Christmas Day after Force Awakens ($49.3 million), Last Jedi ($27.4 million), Rogue One ($25.8 million), Sherlock Holmes ($24.6 million), and Avatar ($23 million). Aquaman now brings its domestic total to $101 million through five days and with previews $105.7 million.
Mary Poppins Returns maintained the second place position with $11.5 million, up 89% from its Christmas Eve take. Mary Poppins Returns now has $50.2 million in the bank and is actually 108% ahead of The Greatest Showman a year ago over the same number of days but as we know, The Greatest Showman legged it out in a huge way so Mary Poppins Returns is likely to fall behind in the long run but this still solid momentum thus far.
Maintaining the third-place position is Bumblebee with $8.9 million, up 140% from Christmas Eve. That’s a huge jump day to day which helps maintain Bumblebee’s momentum at the box office. The Transformers prequel has now grossed $34.2 million thus far.
Landing in fourth is the first of our Christmas Day releases. Holmes & Watson grossed $6.4 million on the holiday which is a testament to the fanbase of the pairing of Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly. The good news may end here for the film because it currently sits at a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and it received a “D+” CinemaScore which doesn’t bode well for its long-term prospects.
We have to go to seventh place to find the other Christmas Day release at the box office. Vice opened to $4.77 million which actually isn’t a bad start considering the subject matter. Despite being a divisive film about former Vice President Dick Cheney, Vice over-indexed in the Northeast and the West coast with surprising strength in Dallas, Houston, Austin, TX, Arizona, Kansas City, and Indianapolis and other heartland cities. Vice has the benefit of some potential Oscar love and it has significant Golden Globe nominations but it has critics a bit mixed at 66% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and it received a not so great “C+” CinemaScore. The film may be able to overcome this based on the curiosity factor, especially for Christian Bale’s transformative performance but we will have to see.
Jennifer Lopez’s Second Act gained a bit of momentum on Christmas Day with $3 million, up 206% from Christmas Eve. The film has grossed $10.55 million to date and has to be thankful for that $16 million budget because, at the end of the day, it will be profitable for the studio despite a so-so finish in the long run.
The news continues to be bad for Welcome to Marwen which grossed $1.3 million, up 172% from Christmas Eve but its start was so small that these big gains don’t even matter. The film has grossed a mere $4.1 million to date and is a long way from its $40-50 million budget.
Lastly, On The Basis of Sex, the young Ruth Bader Ginsburg story grossed an impressive $442,000 on Christmas Day from 33 locations. The film will continue to expand in the days and weeks ahead.
