Weekend box office: Aquaman easily beats Bumblebee and Mary Poppins
Box office pundits were anxious to see how AQUAMAN would do at the weekend box office and they finally have their answer to the tune of around $70 million. Some will argue the success of that number one way or the other, but I think Warner Bros. should be moderately pleased, especially when you consider the massive international box office numbers. It’s hard to compare AQUAMAN to other superheros, but if you stick to the DC universe, WONDER WOMAN made over $100 million and if look over at Sony, this year’s VENOM opened with $80 million. So maybe $70 million isn’t great in comparison, but I would still consider it a success. Then there’s BUMBLEBEE, which is easily the best reviewed Transformers movie, but with around $22 million, it’s opening with half the total of THE LAST KNIGHT, so there might be some concern there. Then there’s MARY POPPINS RETURNS, which is chasing down BUMBLEBEE in the $22 million range. That has to be another disappointing opening for Disney, which has already struggled this year with THE NUTCRACKER AND THE FOUR REALMS and CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. In case you missed it, Jennifer Lopez’s SECOND ACT opened with about $7.1 million. That might seem low, but considering the extreme competition and the fact J-Lo isn’t exactly in the public limelight anymore, $7.1 million is actually pretty impressive. Imagine what it could have done if it wasn’t opening on the busiest weekend of the year. Finally, there’s WELCOME TO MARWEN, which is probably one Steve Carell wants back. The critically bashed film opened with barely $3 million.
Next week sees the release of the Will Farrell and John C. Reilly comedy HOLMES AND WATSON as well as the political satire VICE, which features a great performance from Christian Bale. Normally, I would bet on another Farrell-Reilly team up, but the trailers for HOLMES AND WATSON aren’t funny at all. Instead, I think AQUAMAN makes it two in a row. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.
1. Aquaman $68.8m
2. Bumblebee $22.6m
3. Mary Poppins Returns $22.3m
4. Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse $17.9m
5. The Mule $10.7m
6. The Grinch $9m
7. Second Act $7.1m
8. Ralph Breaks the Internet $4.8m
9. Welcome to Marwen $3m
10. Mortal Engines $2m
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