While the box office charts we share each week are domestic money only, Aquaman has already become the biggest DC movie since their "expanded universe" began overseas. It will be the first of those films to cross the billion dollar mark globally. That said stateside it's still $150 million behind Wonder Woman though it should easily topple Suicide Squad and Batman v Superman by the the end of its run since it's still going strong.
More box office news after the jump...
| Weekend Box Office (Estimates) (January 4th-6th) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
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| 1 Aquaman $30.7 on 4184 screens (cum. $259.7) Review, Podcast |
1 🔺 If Beale Street Could Talk $1.8 on 335 screens (cum. $4.4) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
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| 2 Escape Room $18 on 2717 screens *NEW* Podcast ❤️ |
2 🔺 On the Basis of Sex $1.6 on 112 screens (cum. $3.7) |
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| 3 Mary Poppins Returns $15.7 on 4090 screens (cum. $138.7) |
3 Simmba $1 on 292 screens (cum. $4.1) |
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| 4 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $18.8 on 3813 screens (cum. $104.1) Review ❤️ | 4 Ben is Back $338k on 159 screens (cum. $2.5) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
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| 5 Bumblebee $12.7 on 3597 screens (cum. $97.1) |
5 Free Solo $114k on 54 screens (cum. $11.4) Review ❤️ |
Escape Room, the sole release of 2019 thus far (teehee) did surprisingly well in its opening weekend until you realize that horror films usually do, since the fans of that genre are as loyal as fans get. In limited release If Beale Street Could Talk added nearly 300 screens and tops that particular chart. Will this surge just before Oscar voting be enough to put it in the Best Picture lineup or did it open too late? We'll see.
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| 6 🔺 The Mule $9 on 3212 screens (cum. $81.1) Review |
6 🔺 Destroyer $110k on 6 screens (cum. $259k) Review ❤️ |
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| 7 Vice $7.4 on 2534 screens (cum. $19.8) Podcast, Random Thoughts |
7 🔺 Stan & Ollie $96k on 8 screens (cum. $243k) Review ❤️ |
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| 8 Second Act $4.9 on 2523 screens (cum. $32.9) |
8 🔺 Cold War $93k on 6 screens (cum. $274k) Review, Podcast, Oscar FINALIST ❤️ |
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| 9 Ralph Breaks the Internet $4.6 on 2050 screens (cum. $187.1) |
9 At Eternity's Gate $61k on 49 screens (cum. $1.9) Review ❤️ |
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| 10 Holmes & Watson $3.4 on 2780 screens (cum. $28.4) |
10 🔺 Capernaum $33k on 10 screens (cum. $173k) Podcast , Oscar FINALIST ❤️ |
| 🔺 = new or expanding theater count / ❤️ = recommended by TFE numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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Some final thoughts:
The Mule is another hit for the ever bankable Clint Eastwood. It's already proven to have "legs" in its box office run. It actually added over four-hundred theaters in its fourth weekend!
The highest per screen average this week was actually for Nicole Kidman in Destroyer despite a very quiet opening and rapidly dimming prospects for that Best Actress nomination. It only added 3 theaters this weekend. They're sure being timid with it. Yes, it's an "art" film to some degree but it's also a police procedural (totally mainstream genre) and they could have easily opened it wider with more of a marketing push. And they definitely should have opened it right after its Toronto debut.
Cold War and Capernaum are both also being very timid, inching their way open. They're surely banking on Oscar nominations before a bigger marketing and expansion push.