‘Aquaman’ Swims to the Top of the Weekend Box Office For the Second Week

December 31, 2018

The final weekend of 2018 came and went, and Aquaman continued to sit at the top of the box office. January tends to be a dumping ground for studios, so it’s unlikely that James Wan’s submerged superhero will be washed away anytime soon – unless audiences really get a craving for Escape Room. The rest of the weekend box office remained predictable: Mary Poppins Returns held on at second, and Bumblebee is stuck at third.

Christmas is usually a big time for movies, but the holiday is gone, and all we have left now is New Year’s, which doesn’t exactly set the box office on fire. The final weekend of 2018 once again belonged to Aquaman, which is unsurprising. Still, while I think we all knew Aquaman would make money, who knew it would outperform Justice League? As Box Office Mojo reports, Aquaman “delivered the smallest second weekend drop in the DC Extended Universe, dipping just -23.5% for a $51.55 million second weekend, pushing the film’s domestic cume over $188 million. The film now ranks as the eleventh largest domestic release based on a DC Comic after just ten days in release.” On top of that, THR adds that the movie will make more than “$900 million by the end of its run and become the biggest Warner Bros./DC title since Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises earned $1.09 billion in 2012, not adjusted for inflation.” My man!

Mary Poppins Returns and Bumblebee stayed more or less the same, with Mary Poppins improving slightly, proving word of mouth is drawing more people in, and Bumblebee dropped a bit, proving word of mouth isn’t really helping. Go figure. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse saw a larger-than-expected audience drop last weekend, but holds at number 4 (what are you doing, people? Go see this).

Outside of the world of blockbusters, Clint Eastwood’s The Mule is doing much better than expected, hauling in $60 million so far. Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic Vice is now distributor Annapurna’s “highest grossing domestic release of all-time”, taking $17.7 million – but don’t expect it to be as big a hit as McKay’s last movie, The Big Short. Here are the current top 10 films at the box office, again via Box Office Mojo.

1. Aquaman
2. Mary Poppins Returns
3. Bumblebee
4. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
5. The Mule
6. Vice
7. Holmes and Watson
8. Second Act
9. Ralph Breaks the Internet
10. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch

Looking to the future, this Friday will see the release of PG-13 horror flick Escape Room, which will probably do okay thanks to a low budget. The following weekend we’ll finally get to see the delayed Keanu Reeves sci-fi flick Replicas and A Dog’s Way Home. Don’t expect either of those to break records. The only clear box office winner in the not-too-distant future is Glass, Night Shyamalan’s sequel to both Unbreakable and Split. Early tracking indicates the flick is going to do very well when it opens January 18.

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