Saturday Update: Warner Bros. reports Aquaman added another $9.3 million on Friday, raising its domestic haul to $238.3 million after 15 days in release. A third domestic frame around $30 million appears likely at this point.
Perhaps even more impressively, the studio adds that the film added $12.4 million and became the highest grossing DC movie of all-time in the overseas market as it reached $649.3 million outside North America yesterday. That tops The Dark Knight Rises ($636.8 million) — with a number of asterisks — and raises Aquaman‘s global haul to an excellent $887.6 million (including $279.4 million from China).
Back on the domestic front, Sony’s Escape Room is somewhat over-performing as it posted $7.7 million on opening day. That includes Thursday’s $2.345 million start from shows beginning at 4pm, which will likely skew weekend projections at this stage. Either way, this is a great start for the low-budget thriller. Sony expects around $16 million for the weekend.
Mary Poppins Returns took third place with $5.07 million and an updated $128.03 million domestic cume, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ranked fourth with $4.055 million and an updated $124.9 million haul, and Bumblebee capped the top five with $3.94 million / $88.3 million domestic total.
Just outside the top five, The Mule continues to hold very well as it added $2.86 million and now stands at $74.9 million.
Expanding from 65 to 335 locations yesterday, award season contender If Beale Street Could Talk earned $604K and now stands at $3.2 million.
Early weekend estimates are below with studio updates to follow on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, JAN. 4 – SUN, JAN. 6
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aquaman | $30,000,000 | -42% | 4,184 | 59 | $7,170 | $259,020,880 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| 2 | Mary Poppins Returns | $17,000,000 | -40% | 4,090 | 0 | $4,156 | $139,956,305 | 3 | Disney |
| 3 | Escape Room | $16,000,000 | — | 2,717 | — | $5,889 | $16,000,000 | 1 | Sony Pictures |
| 4 | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | $12,900,000 | -31% | 3,419 | -394 | $3,773 | $133,751,346 | 4 | Sony / Columbia |
| 5 | Bumblebee | $12,800,000 | -39% | 3,597 | 47 | $3,559 | $97,153,140 | 3 | Paramount Pictures |
| 6 | The Mule | $8,800,000 | -28% | 3,212 | 425 | $2,740 | $80,868,110 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| 7 | Vice | $5,500,000 | -29% | 2,534 | 92 | $2,170 | $29,492,988 | 2 | Annapurna |
| 8 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | $4,800,000 | -29% | 2,050 | -293 | $2,341 | $187,279,171 | 7 | Disney |
| 9 | Second Act | $4,800,000 | -35% | 2,523 | -84 | $1,902 | $32,837,075 | 4 | STX Entertainment |
| 10 | Holmes and Watson | $3,400,000 | -54% | 2,780 | 4 | $1,223 | $28,410,922 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| 11 | Bohemian Rhapsody | $2,300,000 | -2% | 1,080 | 199 | $2,130 | $193,576,825 | 10 | 20th Century Fox |
| 12 | Mary Queen of Scots | $2,200,000 | -19% | 1,052 | 211 | $2,091 | $13,478,025 | 5 | Focus Features |
| 13 | Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch | $1,300,000 | -68% | 1,622 | -933 | $801 | $269,753,735 | 9 | Universal |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | If Beale Street Could Talk | $2,000,000 | 161% | 335 | 270 | $5,970 | $4,565,864 | 4 | Annapurna |
| 2 | The Favourite | $1,900,000 | -22% | 771 | -39 | $2,464 | $19,294,336 | 7 | Fox Searchlight |
| 3 | Green Book | $1,700,000 | -10% | 566 | -55 | $3,004 | $35,123,256 | 8 | Universal Pictures |
| 4 | On The Basis Of Sex | $1,700,000 | 148% | 112 | 79 | $15,179 | $3,798,395 | 2 | Focus Features |
| 5 | Creed II | $960,000 | -39% | 893 | -175 | $1,075 | $114,333,952 | 7 | MGM / Warner Bros |
| 6 | Robin Hood | $770,000 | 591% | 139 | -50 | $5,540 | $31,493,508 | 7 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| 7 | Instant Family | $720,000 | -25% | 604 | -140 | $1,192 | $66,230,028 | 8 | Paramount Pictures |
| 8 | Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald | $680,000 | -31% | 401 | -114 | $1,696 | $158,088,573 | 8 | Warner Bros. |
| 9 | A Star is Born | $610,000 | 24% | 268 | 32 | $2,276 | $202,085,867 | 14 | Warner Bros. |
| 10 | The Nutcracker and the Four Realms | $105,000 | -41% | 172 | -46 | $610 | $54,799,921 | 10 | Walt Disney Pictures |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Destroyer | $110,000 | 99% | 6 | 3 | $18,333 | $259,786 | 2 | Annapurna Pictures |
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Friday Report: Sony’s Escape Room got off to a strong debut as the first domestic release of 2019, earning $2.345 million yesterday. Comparisons are limited, however, since the film debuted earlier than normal — at 4pm — in an estimated 2,386 locations. The most recent comparison is last January’s Insidious: The Last Key, which opened to $1.98 million from Thursday shows beginning later in the evening (and one extra day removed from holiday vacation time).
The studio still projects around $10 million for the weekend, although that appears to be conservative at this point. Despite the early start and what is effectively three-fourths of a full opening day’s worth of showtimes yesterday, a weekend tally around or north of mid-teen millions is increasingly likely.
More updates to follow throughout the weekend.
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