Wednesday, January 2 Update:

Coming in first place at the North American box office for the second weekend in a row, Aquaman slightly bested its 3-day estimate of $51.55 million with an actual gross of $52.11 million over the 3-day period, while the Warner Bros. superhero tentpole managed $78.50 million over the 5-day weekend.

Similarly, actuals for Mary Poppins Returns came in more than $300K over its $28.01 million estimate with $28.35 million in actual grosses over the 3-day weekend (and $43.68 million over the 5-day), while No. 3 finisher Bumblebee also came in higher than its $20.50 million estimate with an actual gross of $20.90 million (and a 5-day gross of $32.34 million).

Lastly, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also managed to beat estimates with an actual gross of $18.79 million in fourth place, while its 5-day gross came in at $29.00 million.

Comparisons

Total box office this weekend was $187.9M.

That’s +5.6% above last weekend but -3.1% below this same weekend last year, when Star Wars: The Last Jedi led for a third frame with $52.5M.

Year-to-date box office stands at $11.82B. That’s +7.3% ahead of this same date last year, down from +9.0% after last weekend.

Demographics

With the caveat that final audience demographics estimates for Vice and Holmes and Watson were not available as of this writing…

The most male audience in this weekend’s top 10 was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at 65.5%, while the most female audience was Mary Poppins Returns at 61.9%.

The most under-25 audience in this weekend’s top 10 was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse at 55.4%, while the most over-25 audience was The Mule at 91.2%. (Although it’s possible that Vice may have eclipsed that number.)

A full demographic breakdown of the top 30 movies this weekend, courtesy of BoxofficeProfile by Vertigo, is below:

Here are 5-day tallies for a few more of the major titles, followed by an updated chart of 3-day actuals:

Aquaman = $78.50M [five-day actual]

Mary Poppins Returns = $43.68M

Bumblebee = $32.34M

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse = $29.00M

The Mule = $19.83M

Vice = $12.07M

Holmes & Watson = $10.92M

Second Act = $11.43M

Ralph Breaks the Internet =  $10.71M

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch = $6.04M

Mary Queen of Scots =  $4.15M

The Favourite = $3.84M

Bohemian Rhapsody = $3.64M

Welcome to Marwen = $3.60M

Green Book = $3.22M

Monday, December 31 Update:

Updated numbers include:

1. Aquaman = $52.1M  [updated studio estimate]
2. Mary Poppins Returns = $28.3M  [actual]
3. Bumblebee = $20.9M [updated studio estimate]
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse = $18.8M [updated studio estimate]
5. The Mule = $12.1M [updated studio estimate]
6. Vice = $7.7M [actual]
7. Holmes and Watson = $7.4M [updated studio estimate]
8. Second Act = $7.3M [actual]
9. Ralph Breaks the Internet = $6.7M [actual]
10. Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch = $4.1M [updated studio estimate]

Sunday, December 30 Update:
Despite seeing competition from two new wide releases over the weekend, Aquaman and Mary Poppins Returns remained on top with an estimated $51.5 million and $28 million, respectively, while Bumblebee also continued strong in third place. Freshman titles Holmes & Watson and Vice, meanwhile, were no match for the powerhouse holdovers, both opening with disappointing totals further down the chart.

After debuting to a solid $67.4 million last weekend, Aquaman held up remarkably well in its sophomore frame, dipping just 23% from its debut. That ranks as the best sophomore hold of any title in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), besting Wonder Woman‘s 43% drop in its second weekend. With a powerful $188.7 million in the bank so far and $560 million overseas, the Warner Bros. superhero tentpole is firing on all cylinders and looks poised to continue playing well into the new year, with no major new competition on the horizon until the release on Universal’s highly-anticipated Glass on January 18.

In second place, Mary Poppins Returns improved on its first-weekend performance, besting its debut frame by a whopping 19%. The Disney hit, whose domestic cume now stands at $98.9 million, started a bit more slowly than expected but held up well throughout the week, posting an $11.4 million total on Christmas Day alone. The belated sequel has taken full advantage of the holiday break with kids out of school, and has done equally well in ginning up nostalgia among the older set who remember watching the original film as children. With several Golden Globe nominations and excellent word-of-mouth (the film has an “A-” Cinemascore), the musical follow-up certainly has lots of momentum heading into the new year.

Third place again went to Bumblebee, which brought in an estimated $20.5 million in its sophomore frame. The Transformers spin-off dipped a scant 5% from its $21.6 million debut weekend thanks to excellent reviews and apparently strong word-of-mouth. The total for the $135 million Paramount title now stands at $66.7 million after ten days of release.

In fourth was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the animated spin-off that improved on last weekend’s performance with an estimated $18.3 million, a gain of over 11%. That gives the Sony title a solid $103.6 million after three weeks of release. With strong word-of-mouth and the highest Rotten Tomatoes average of any Spider-Man movie in history (97%), it looks likely to continue sticking the proverbial landing well into the new year.

Fifth place went to The Mule, which took in an estimated $11.7 million in its third weekend of release. Like so many returning titles this weekend, the Clint Eastwood drama actually improved on its performance from last weekend, posting a 23% increase. It now has $60.7 million to date.

In sixth place was Annapurna’s Vice, which faltered out of the gate with a so-so $7.7 million in seventh place (and $17.6 million since debuting on Christmas Day) despite featuring an all-star cast including Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Steve Carell. The Dick Cheney biographical comedy-drama came from the director of The Big Short (Adam McKay), but unlike that title, Vice was given a wide release immediately rather than beginning in just a few theaters before expanding later. Despite garnering a number of Golden Globe nominations, reviews for the film weren’t up to the same level as those for The Big Short (88% vs. 64%). Audiences don’t seem to have particularly taken to it either; while Short garnered an “A-” CinemaScore, Vice managed only a “C+.” As a result, Vice doesn’t seem likely to enjoy the same kind of shelf life as McKay’s previous film, which finished its domestic run with a healthy $70.2 million.

In seventh, the weekend’s other wide freshman release Holmes & Watson brought in an estimated $7.3 million (and $19.7 million since debuting on Christmas Day), a poor start for the Will Ferrell-John C. Reilly reunion. The comedy has suffered some of the worst reviews of the year (it’s at a mere 9% on Rotten Tomatoes) and hasn’t been helped on the P.R. front by multiple reports of walkouts by dissatisfied moviegoers. The debut is about in line with Ferrell’s similarly poorly-reviewed comedy The House in the summer of 2017 ($8.7 million opening) and a far cry from his previous team-ups with Reilly, 2006’s Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby ($47 million opening, $148.2 million total) and 2008’s Step Brothers ($30.9 million opening, $100.4 million total). With such a poor reception, look for the Sony release to slip from theaters in fairly short order.

In eighth, STX’s Second Act held up well with an estimated $7.2 million in its sophomore frame, an 11% improvement on its $6.4 million opening weekend. That brings the total for the Jennifer Lopez rom-com to $21.7 million after ten days – an encouraging cume for a production budgeted at $16 million.

Rounding out the Top 10 were two animated holdovers, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch, which brought in an estimated $6.5 million and $4.2 million in ninth and tenth place, respectively. The Disney sequel now stands at $175.7 million after six weeks of release, while the Universal retelling of the classic children’s book has officially surpassed the live-action Jim Carrey version ($260 million total, not adjusted for inflation) with $265.5 million in North America after eight weeks.

Chugging right along in semi-wide release are Fox Searchlights’ The Favourite and Focus Features’ Mary Queen of Scots, both of which fell just outside the Top 10 with $2.6 million and $2.4 million, respectively. Mary Queen of Scots has $9 million after four weeks, while The Favourite stands at $15.2 million after six weeks.

Limited Release:

Newcomer On the Basis of Sex grossed $689K from 33 screens in its opening frame, good for a per-screen average of $20.8K. The Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic garnered reasonably good reviews (it has 74% on Rotten Tomatoes), though the real test will come in its January expansion.

Opening on just three screens this weekend, Annapurna’s Destroyer took in an estimated $58K, bringing its total to $116K since opening on Christmas Day. The gritty Nicole Kidman drama finished with weekend with a per-screen average of over $19K.

Expanding to 65 screens, If Beale Street Could Talk brought in an estimated $759K this weekend, giving the Annapurna drama a per-screen average of over $11K. The total for the acclaimed Barry Jenkins effort now stands at $1.95 million after three weeks of limited release.

Overseas Update:

Remaining the No. 1 movie worldwide for the fourth weekend in a row, Aquaman brought in an estimated $85.4 million overseas this weekend. The Warner Bros. blockbuster’s international total now stands at an eye-popping $560 million, while its global cume is a massive $748.8 million.  In China alone, the film has brought in $260.4 million, making it the sixth highest-grossing imported film of all time in the country. As for DC Universe titles, it’s now the second highest-grossing entry in the franchise internationally, behind only The Dark Knight Rises.

Mary Poppins Returns brought in an estimated $28.9 million overseas this weekend, bringing its international total to $74.4 million and its global cume to $173.3 million.

Bumblebee brought in an estimated $27.4 million this weekend in 60 markets, bringing its international cume to $109.6 million and its global haul to $176.3 million. Its total in China is

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse brought in an estimated $27.4 million this weekend in 60 markets, bringing its international cume to $109.6 million and its global haul to $213.2 million.

Bumblebee brought in $45.7 million this weekend from 55 markets, bringing its international total to $90 million and its worldwide cume to $156.7 million. The Transformers spinoff is slated for release in China on January 4.

With another $17.5 million in international territories this weekend, Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch has now surpassed $200 million overseas ($203.9 million) and stands at $469.4 million worldwide.

Ralph Breaks the Internet brought in an estimated $13.7 million overseas, boosting its international total to $174.7 million and its global tally to $350.4 million.

Bohemian Rhapsody crossed the $500 million mark internationally this weekend and the $700 million mark globally after bringing in an estimated $17 million overseas. The blockbuster Freddie Mercury biopic, which now stands at $513 million internationally and $702.1 million globally, is currently Fox International’s seventh highest-grossing release of all time – a pretty incredible feat for a non-tentpole film.

Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, DEC. 28 – SUN, DEC. 30