Box Office Weekend – ‘The Upside’ Upsets ‘Aquaman’ as Superhero Movie Clears $1B Globally
This weekend at the box office, Aquaman gave Warner Bros. their first $1B-grosser since 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Meanwhile, STX Entertainment’s The Upside became a surprise hit and dethroned Aquaman at the domestic box office.
The Upside, the American remake of the French film The Intouchables, may not have been a hit with critics this weekend, but audiences are embracing the film as a feel-good movie with a weekend box office total that’s only a little short of $20M. The movie, which stars Bryan Cranston, Kevin Hart, and Nicole Kidman, revolves around a wealthy quadriplegic who hires an ex-con to serve as his caretaker, with hilarity and heartwarming moments ensuing as the two celebrate an unlikely friendship. The movie managed to outdo Aquaman, which was expected to top the weekend. (Either way, Nicole Kidman is laughing her way to the bank, as she has prominent roles in both films.)
Not that the King of Atlantis has anything to complain about, what with his film making over $1B at the global box office. That’s right: Aquaman, the character who has been seen as a joke by the public since his major role in the 1973 Super Friends cartoon is the first hero in DC’s shared movie universe to cross $1B, and not the likes of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, or the Justice League. Speaking of Batman as a franchise, the movie is set to topple The Dark Knight Rises as the highest-grossing movie based on a DC property after a week or two of additional international play. Suffice to say, DC have managed to completely reverse their financial troubles over Justice League with a single film, and one can only hope that its success opens the door for the development of a new Superman movie that’s similar in terms of visual quality.
The weekend’s other new releases, A Dog’s Way Home and Replicas, tell different stories. The former managed to have a good start against its $19M budget with $11.3M, so while it’s not going to do A Dog’s Purpose numbers, it should be fine in the long run; meanwhile, the latter is a flop with a $2.5M opening against a $20M budget, which is just enough for it to make the last spot on the Top Twelve. The former of those is a Sony release, and they managed to take the three lowest spots in the Top Five with the continued success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (which likely got a boost out of its Golden Globe win for Best Animated Picture), along with Escape Room showing decent legs for a low-budget thriller.
Another thing of note is that the Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody looks like it’s poised to cross $200M domestically, which might even put its final box office total ahead of A Star is Born. (Like with Spider-Verse, Bohemian‘s unexpected Golden Globe win in the Best Picture – Drama category probably helped boost its numbers this weekend.) Lastly, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex expanded successfully in over 18,000 additional theaters with a $6M+ weekend. As it stands, it seems like 2019 is off to a good start – and with luck, we’ll see that carry over into next weekend’s Glass, which is set to be the first event film of the year.
The Top Twelve box office performances for the three-day weekend can be summarized as follows (bolded titles are new releases):
- The Upside (STX Films) – $19.59M Total.
- Aquaman (Warner Bros./DC Films) – $17.265M Weekend/$287.861M Total; 44.3% Drop.
- A Dog’s Way Home (Sony Pictures) – $11.3M Total.
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation) – $9M Weekend/$147.775M Total; 31.4% Drop.
- Escape Room (Sony Pictures) – $8.9M Weekend/$32.432M Total; 51.2% Drop.
- Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) – $7.215M Weekend/$150.656M Total; 54.5% Drop.
- Bumblebee (Paramount Pictures) – $6.775M Weekend/$108.469M Total; 48.7% Drop.
- On the Basis of Sex (Universal Pictures/Focus Features) – $6.227M Weekend/$10.557M Total; 286.9% Rise.
- The Mule (Warner Bros.) – $5.545M Weekend/$90.578M Total; 39.1% Drop.
- Vice (Annapurna Pictures) – $3.278M Weekend/$35.936M Total; 42.8% Drop.
- Bohemian Rhapsody (20th Century Fox) – $3.2M Weekend/$198.496M Total; 35.1% Rise.
- Replicas (Entertainment Studios) – $2.5M Total.
Bohemian Rhapsody, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Mary Poppins Returns, Bumblebee, and Aquaman are now playing in theaters.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
