411 Box Office Report: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Claims Top Spot With $35 Million

It was another great weekend for animated films at the box office, as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse claimed the #1 spot. The Marvel/Sony film scored $35.4 million to reign at the box office this weekend, on the high end of what analysts predicted for it. That’s considered to be a very solid number for the film, which is a relatively rare foray into animated adaptations of superhero films. By comparison, July’s Teen Titans Go to the Movies opened with $10.4 million. (The Incredibles, which is a more traditional family film and has the power of Pixar’s brand, doesn’t qualify as a valid box office comparison.)

The start marks another win for Sony’s adaptations of Marvel franchises, specifically Spider-Man-related properties. Venom kicked off Sony/Marvel’s good 2018 in October and Into the Spider-Verse continues that trend. Into the Spider-Verse was considered to be a bit risky due to its non-traditional animation style and the fact that it was more targeted toward an adult crowd. In addition, the Miles Morales iteration of the character, while incredibly popular on the page, had yet to be tested on the big screen. But it paid off, boosted by fantastic reviews and word of mouth. The film has a critic consensus of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the CinemaScore is a perfect A+. The positive buzz fortified a savvy marketing campaign to get audiences in theaters.

On its own, a $35.4 million start doesn’t seem all that great, especially when you consider the $90 million budget. But Sony is expecting profit here for one major reason: holiday holds. Christmas is always a great period for films, which tend to have very good week-to-week holds during the season. Case in point: Sing. The animated musical comedy was liked when it opened in December of 2016, but not loved to the level Spider-Verse has been. And that film ended up translating its $35.3 million start into a $270.4 million domestic final.

Spider-Verse probably won’t hit that level, especially with Aquaman coming next weekend. But it should still do just fine. A $200 million domestic final isn’t certain, but it is achievable. The film began its overseas rollout with forty-four markets and brought in $21 million, giving it a $56.4 million worldwide start. It will end up being another profitable film for Sony — a relief, since a sequel and spinoff are in development.

While families went to see Miles Morales, older audiences were taken by Mule. The Clint Eastwood film brought in $17.2 million, slightly above the $15 million expected start. That’s an improvement over Eastwood’s first 2018 effort, February’s The 15:17 to Paris which opened with $12.6 million. Eastood can thank the stronger critical response for Mule, which sits at an okay 62% compared to 15:17’s 24%. Eastwood is a director who generally performs better at the end of the year, where Sully was a hit in 2016 and American Sniper ended 2014 okay, then rode strong into the beginning of the year.

The Mule won’t get likely a major play overseas, as it focuses on topical American issues which rarely play well internationally. That makes the domestic gross essential for Warner Bros. It will run into a fair number of Oscar-buzzed films soon, but should still be able to make it to $65 million to $70 million. That won’t be enough for profit on its own though, as the budget was $50 million.

The Grinch continued its strong run, as it was down just 23% in its sixth week. The film brought in $11.6 million up, bringing its totals to $239.3 million domestically and $372.7 million worldwide. Universal and Illumination are cashing in big-time on this film, which should make it to up to $270 million. With a $75 million budget, this is a major money-maker for the studios.

Ralph Breaks the Internet fell from the top spot after three weekends as it slipped 41% to $9.6 million. The sequel pushed its totals to $154.5 million domestically and $285.2 million worldwide. These are good numbers, to say the least, although the have been slightly higher than the first film. It’s still in a good spot to overtake Wreck-It Ralph’s $189.4 million domestic total, with a likely $200 million-plus domestic final. The budget was $175 million.

The weekend’s big flop was Mortal Engines, and I mean big. The Peter Jackson-produced fantasy action-adventure fell flat with just $7.5 million. That’s well below the mid-teens start that was expected, and even that would not have been a good start for the expensive film. At $100 million, there’s no way to deny that this is a huge money loser, with some estimates putting the likely loss in the $100 million or more range.

What went wrong here? Well, several things. First off, the film has been in the works for years and had a hefty development cost which contributed to its budget. It’s also based on an somewhat more obscure book than most big-budget adaptations. But mostly, it just didn’t look that intriguing. And the critical reception didn’t help. The film sits at a lousy 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the B- CinemaScore isn’t good by any real measure. The film only opened slightly better overseas, with 34.8 million over two weeks in a total of fifty-four markets. There’s no chance for this one, which will stay deeply into the red for the studio.

Creed II slipped 46% in its fourth weekend to $5.4 million. That’s better than Creed’s 51% fall in its fourth weekend. Creed II is now up to $104.9 million domestically thus far, with $131.9 million worldwide. The film should end up making it to around $125 million to $130 million domestically, a hit on a $50 million budget.

Bohemian Rhapsody was off 33% to $4.1 million in its seventh weekend. The Queen biopic is now up to $180.4 million domestically and $635.9 million worldwide thus far. It is now the eighth-highest grossing film of 2018 worldwide and, with a $52 million, has Fox rolling in money.

Instant Family continued its very good run, down 35% in its fifth weekend with $3.7 million. The comedy’s grosses are up to $60.2 million domestically and $68.2 million worldwide against a $48 million budget. A $70 million domestic gross is likely, and it should be able to break even if not make a little profit.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is drifting away, down 48% in its fifth weekend. The fantasy film tallied $3.7 million and now has $151.7 million domestically and $595.9 million worldwide to date. It’s not making the same money as the first film, but is still a profit. It should finish with around $165 million domestically off a $200 million budget.

Green Book edged down 29% in its fifth weekend with $2.8 million. The Viggo Mortenson/Mahershali Ali film is now up to $24.7 million, with its international run just barely started. If the award momentum continues, this should be a minor profit. The budget was $23 million.

Next weekend will be ruled by the King of Atlantis as Aquaman bursts into theaters. The DCEU film is expected to gross around $65 million and could go higher. Also opening are Mary Poppins Returns, which starts on Wednesday and should have a three-day weekend take of $35 million, and Transformers spinoff Bumblebee which is aiming at around $20 million to $25 million. Jennifer Lopez’s rom-com Second Act and Steve Carell’s drama Welcome to Marwen should start in the mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – $35.4 million ($35.4 million total)
2. The Mule – $17 million ($17 million total)
3. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch – $11.6 million ($239.3 million total)
4. Ralph Breaks the Internet – $9.6 million ($154.5 million total)
5. Mortal Engines – $7.5 million ($7.5 million total)
6. Creed II – $5.4 million ($104.9 million total)
7. Bohemian Rhapsody – $4.1 million ($180.4 million total)
8. Instant Family – $3.7 million ($60.2 million total)
9. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – $3.7 million ($151.7 million total)
10. Green Book – $2.8 million ($24.7 million total)