411 Box Office Report: Aquaman Dominates Competition With $67 Million Start

DC’s king of the seas reigned atop the box office this weekend as Aquaman defeated all comers for the #1 spot. The superhero film scored $67.4 million to top the list of films this weekend, right in line with industry projections coming into Friday. While that is the lowest opening for a DCEU film to date, that was always expected to be the case considering the competition and is considered to be a very good start for the film.

Aquaman is breathing new life into the notoriously-troubled DC film universe with its start. The franchise has had difficulty finding traction with audiences, with last year’s Justice League actually losing money for the studio thanks to its expensive budget and panning from many fans and critics. Aquaman turned that around, with a decent (if not great) 64% critic consensus on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. That’s the second-best score for a DCEU film behind Wonder Woman’s 93%. The A- CinemaScore from fans is a good rating as well, putting it above Justice League (B+), Suicide Squad (B+) and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (B). DC and Warner Bros. knew they had a chance at a real hit here and marketed it well, which fans responded to. With an additional $4.7 million coming from the paid sneak previews earlier in the week, the film is up to $72.1 million so far.

Even better news for Warner Bros. comes in the film’s overseas gross. Aquaman opened two weekends ago in China and has expanded to other territories in the last couple weeks, where it has been playing like gangbusters. The film has a whopping total of $410.7 million internationally thus far, which already puts it ahead of the total overseas grosses of Wonder Woman ($409.3 million) and Man of Steel ($377 million). It is less than $20 million away from topping the foreign totals of Suicide Squad ($421.7 million) and Justice League ($428.9 million). And with the holidays expected to provide the traditional great hold over the next few weeks, there’s every reason to expect that it will top $200 million with relatiive ease. A $250 million domestic gross seems likely, which will make it a hit on a budget that is believed to be around $160 million.

The #2 spot went to a family film, as Mary Poppins Returns laid claim to $22.2 million. That’s well below the $35 million that most expected it to do. The Emily Blunt-starring sequel to the Disney classic saw its opening weekend grosses diluted a bit by a Wednesday opening, but also took a hit from the crowded marketplace for family films. Disney isn’t sweating this one much, as Poppins should do good business across the coming two weeks of holiday grosses. Still, it’s turning what could have been a mega-hit into a moderate success at best.

Mary Poppins Returns was always going to be a bit of a risk. Revivals of old franchises have a hit-or-miss track record when they aren’t straight reboots, and Blunt had some lofty shoes to fill in the Julie Andrews-starring original. Critics have been warm to the film but not effusive, with a 77% average on Rotten Tomatoes. Poppins seemed somewhat buried in the marketing amidst higher-profile releases and while the film’s legs will be fine — particularly with several Golden Globes nominations to its name — this could have been a more profitable film. To date the film has $31 million domestically and $51.3 million worldwide off a $130 million budget, and should be able to hit somewhere around $125 million to $130 million domestically by the end of its run.

Bumblebee came in at #3 in its opening weekend, just behind Poppins with $21 million. That’s right around where it was predicted to do. The Transformers spinoff is way under the openings for the main franchise but much like Aquaman, this was always planned to be the case. And again, those holiday grosses will help, especially since Bumblebee is targeting a younger audience than the Transformers films did.

One thing that the 1980s-set spinoff has going for it is the fact that it is by far the best-received film in the Transformers live-action universe. Critics thoroughly enjoyed the film at a 94% on RT, and audiences liked it too with an A- CinemaScore. The film had a less expensive budget than its predecessors at a still-robust $135 million. It should be able to make that back, albeit by relying on its foreign grosses to do so. The film started with an okay $31 million overseas in thirty-eight markets, just a third of its international releases, for a $52.1 million worldwide start. It should finish off with around $130 million domestically.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse had to make way for audiences that crowded in on all of its target demos, down 53% in its second weekend with $16.7 million. The Marvel/Sony film is sitting in pretty good shape right now, with $64.8 million domestically and $129.6 million worldwide. The film should be able to end its domestic run at around $150 million and will be a tidy profit on a $90 million budget.

Clint Eastwood’s The Mule was down a solid 43% in its second weekend to tally $10 million. The crime drama is performing pretty much exactly as expected at this point, having scored $35.7 million to date. The Mule will remain a moderate play for Warner Bros. throughout the next couple of weeks and should be able to make it as high as $75 million by the end of its run. With a $50 milliom budget, the profit margin will depend on whether the movie can find some sort of audience overseas, which is by no means confirmed.

The Grinch is still performing well, as it dropped just 30% in its seventh week for the best hold of the top ten. The animated film nailed down another $8.2 million up, bringing its totals to $253.2 million domestically and $422.5 million worldwide. This is a big winner for Universal and Illumination, and the film should end up as high as $280 million by the end of its run. The production budget was $75 million.

Jennifer Lopez’s return to the big screen was moderate at best, as romantic comedy Second Chance whipped up a $6.5 million opening. That’s not a bad start for the film, falling right in line with where most people expected it to start. It repped the lowest start for a Lopez-starring film since 2003’s infamous Gigli, and was about in line with the $7 million start of 2015’s Parker.

Lopez has been off the big screen for a few years now, having focused on her TV work in NBC’s Shades of Blue which ended over the summer. Critics were mild on this film (41% on RT), though audiences who saw it thought it was fine with a B+ CinemaScore. STX Entertainment kept the budget low on this at $16 million, which should help the film find a road to profit. The film added $4.6 million in a few markets overseas to give it a worldwide first weekend of $11.1 million. In the US, it should make it to around $30 million or so and will probably be close to a profit margin.

Ralph Breaks the Internet was down 50% in its fifth weekend, bringing in $4.6 million. The animated sequel now has $162.1 million domestically and $307.6 million worldwide. It is still moving on course for a $200 million-plus domestic final, which will make it profitable on a $175 million budget.

Steve Carell’s latest film was a dud, as Welcome to Marwen could only muster $2.4 million. The drama, which is based on a true story, was the victim of poor reviews (an ugly 25% on RT) and a marketing campaign featuring the doll figure-version of the characters from the film that looked more creepy than inspiring. The Robert Zemeckis-directed film is an all-around bomb, with a $39 million budget (plus marketing) that it has no chance of making up. Its ceiling looks to be maybe $15 million, making this a regrettable part of Carell and Zemeckis’ resumes.

The final film in the top ten this weekend was the expansion of Mary Queen of Scots. The Margot Robbie and Saoirse Ronan-starring period drama jumped from sixty-six to 729 theaters and did okay for itself with $2.4 million for the weekend, despite reviews that were mildly positive at best (60% on RT). The film has totalled $3.5 million thus far and depending on Focus Features’ expansion plans could end up with as high as $25 million. It will need to bring in international grosses to make a profit, as the budget was a reported $25 million.

Aquaman will spend a second frame atop the box office next weekend, as there are no new blockbusters to face off with it. Sony’s Will Farrell/John C. Reilly comedy Holmes & Watson is looking like a low- to mid-teens performer, while the Dick Cheney biopic Vice is expanding to a probable $10 million or so.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Aquaman – $67.4 million ($72.1 million total)
2. Mary Poppins Returns – $22.2 million ($31 million total)
3. Bumblebee – $21 million ($21 million total)
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – $16.7 million ($64.8 million total)
5. The Mule – $10 million ($35.7 million total)
6. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch – $8.2 million ($253.2 million total)
7. Second Act – $6.5 million ($6.5 million total)
8. Ralph Breaks the Internet – $4.6 million ($162.1 million total)
9. Welcome to Marwen – $2.4 million ($2.4 million total)
10. Mary Queen of Scots – $2.2 million ($3.5 million total)