‘Aquaman’ $16.9M Wednesday Bests ‘Last Jedi’ & ‘Black Panther’; DC Superhero Will Fly To $54M Second Weekend
In its first Wednesday of its six-day run, Warner Bros’ Aquaman posted a super $16.9M, a figure that beats the first Wednesday hauls of several fanboy pics.
While that figure is under the take of Warner Bros./DC’s Dark Knight Wednesday of $18.3M and nickels under Avengers: Infinity War ($16.966M), Aquaman yesterday outstripped the Wednesdays of Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($16.88M), Batman Begins’ opening day ($15M), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story ($14.9M), Black Panther ($14.6M), Dark Knight Rises ($13.7M), Justice League ($10.4M), Suicide Squad ($9.8M), Wonder Woman ($9.3M) and Batman v. Superman ($8.1M). Yes, that’s how powerful the fish man is.
Through six days with previews, Aquaman counts $122.6M, which is $300K ahead of Justice League over the same period. However by Sunday, industry estimates believe that Aquaman will be ahead of that DC pic’s 10-day total of $171.9M. Aquaman‘s second weekend is currently projected at $54M, -20%.
For both studios and exhibition, every day after Christmas is like a Saturday. Another indicator of audiences’ continued appetite for the big screen: AMC announced yesterday that their Stubs-A-List program –their answer to MoviePass which allows members to see three movies a week in any format for $20/a month– is up 100K members since November for a running total of 600K subscribers.
Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns remained in second with $10.9M yesterday, -5% for an eight-day take of $60.8M. Her second weekend is estimated at $25M, which would be +6% from last weekend.
Paramount’s Bumblebee is expected to remain in third place in weekend 2 with $21M, roughly even with last weekend. Yesterday, the Transformers spinoff grossed $6.2M, -29% for a six-day take of $40.5M.
Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was fourth yesterday with $5.9M, +5% from its Christmas day take with a running total of $79.6M. The animated pic’s third weekend is projected at $16M, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Spider-Verse hits $100M by Sunday.
Sony’s Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly comedy Holmes & Watson is looking at a FSS of $9M. In its second day at the B.O., the PG-13 film made $3.5M in 6th place, -45% from its Christmas day take of $6.4M for a two-day cume that’s just under $10M. Total by Sunday should be north of $19M. Critics and audiences have butchered the comedy with a 4% on Rotten Tomatoes and D+ CinemaScore. The pic cost a net of $42M per Sony before P&A.
Annapurna’s Vice in day two took $2.9M in 7th place for a two-day cume of $7.7M. The Adam McKay movie about former Vice President Dick Cheney is also looking at a FSS of $9M. This movie’s box office is in for the long haul as it catches waves throughout awards season. Vice counts six Golden Globe nominations, and two SAG noms for Christian Bale as best actor and Amy Adams as supporting actress. Annapurna also has the Nicole Kidman LA cop noir Destroyer from director Karyn Kusama. The pic in its second day at three locations in NY and LA made $14K for a two take of $45K.
Focus Features’ second day of the young Ruth Bader Ginsburg movie On the Basis of Sex earned an estimated $174K for a two day cume of $616K.
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