Aquamanruled the high seas of the box office for the second weekend in a row. The Warner Bros. superhero film brought in an estimated $51.6 million this weekend, falling only 24% from its opening weekend to shore up a domestic total of $188.8 million thus far. That’s the best showing of a new release for this holiday season by a significant amount.
The week-to-week drop (or lack therof) is particularly notable, asBatman v Supermanfell 69%,Suicide Squadfell 67%, andMan of Steelfell 64% in their respective second weekends. Granted, opening during the holidays is very different from opening in the summer—films can evenincreasepost-Christmas Day given that kids are out of school—but it’s still notable. EvenWonder Woman, which was considered to have a strong box office hold in its second weekend by all standards, fell 45% in its second weekend.
That speaks to strong word of mouth forAquaman, which is also just crushing it overseas. The film pulled in another $85.4 million internationally this weekend, bringing its worldwide total to $748.8 million thus far.Aquamanhas already grossed more thanJustice League($657.9 million),Man of Steel($668 million), andSuicide Squad($746.8 million) did in their entire runs. It’ll likely surpassWonder Woman’s $821.8 million haul in the coming weeks, and if it cracks $873.6 million it’ll swim pastBatman v Supermanto become the highest-grossing DC movie of this DC Extended Universe era, which seems highly likely. Talk about a box office surprise.
Elsewhere at the box office,Mary Poppins Returnsis flying high with $28 million this weekend, an 18% improvement over its first weekend of release. That brings its domestic total to $98.9 million with a worldwide gross of $173.3 million. If the film nabs a Best Picture Oscar nomination like some are predicting, expect that number to soar even higher.
Bumblebeeclinched the #3 slot with $20.5 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to a respectable $64.6 million.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, meanwhile, pulled in another $18 million for a domestic total north of $100 million. Nowtruejustice would be the excellentInto the Spider-VersescoringAquaman-like numbers. If only.
Christmas Day saw two new releases hit theaters:Adam McKay’s political satireViceand theWill Ferrell/John C. ReillycomedyHolmes & Watson. In a true shocker,Viceoutperformed the poorly reviewedHolmes & Watsonwith $7.8 million this weekend versusHolmes & Watson’s $7.4 million. With a domestic total of $17.7 million,Vicenow stands as Annapurna Pictures’ biggest box office hit since beginning to distribute its own films starting with last year’sDetroit.
Check out the full Top 10 estimates below.
$51,550,000
$188,785,000
Mary Poppins Returns
$28,019,000
$98,929,758
$20,500,000
$66,778,020
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
$18,315,000
$103,643,730
$11,780,000
$60,738,465
$7,791,044
$17,697,159
Holmes & Watson
$7,300,000
$19,706,408
Second Act
$7,210,000
$21,760,000
Ralph Breaks the Internet
$6,532,000
$175,713,583
The Grinch
$4,200,000
$265,538,485
