"The Upside" Makes #1 Spot while "Aquaman" Tops $1B Worldwide

[JamesG]

The Upside is #1 at the Weekend Box Office while Aquaman Tops $1 Billion Worldwide
by Brad Brevet
January 13, 2019


Outperforming expectations, STXFilms's The Upside debuted atop the weekend box office, upsetting Aquaman's bid for a fourth straight weekend at #1.

That said, Aquaman isn't exactly focused on its runner-up position domestically as the film is now the first in the DC Extended Universe to top $1 billion at the global box office.

As for the rest of the week's new wide releases, Sony's A Dog's Way Home delivered on studio expectations while Entertainment Studios's sci-fi thriller Replicas failed to place within the weekend top ten.







With an estimated $19.59 million, STXFilms's The Upside topped the weekend box office, dramatically outperforming expectations heading into the weekend. The remake of the popular French film The Intouchables, The Upside stars Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston, and while the reviews were mixed heading into the weekend, opening day audiences seemed to enjoy themselves, giving the film an "A" CinemaScore, which bodes well for the film's future.

The film was originally rated R, but upon acquiring the the film following the Weinstein Co.'s bankruptcy settlement, STX and Lantern Entertainment worked with director Neil Burger and the film's producers to recut the movie to a PG-13, making it more accessible to a broader audience.

The move paid off and gave STX its first #1 debut ever.







In second is Aquaman, which may have relinquished the #1 slot at the weekend box office to begin its fourth week in release, but Warner Bros. is unlikely to be too upset as the film added an estimated $17.26 million domestically and another $27.9 million internationally for a global cume that now stands at $1.02 billion.

Domestically the film has grossed $287.8 million while China remains its top foreign market with $287.3 million. The film will open in Japan, the last market where the film has yet to debut, on February 8.

Aquaman is the first film in the DC Extended Universe to top $1 billion globally and it ranks as the second largest among DC Comics adaptations behind only The Dark Knight Rises ($1.0849 billion).







Sony began its domination of the third, fourth and fifth spots at the weekend box office with the debut of its family feature, A Dog's Way Home, which opened with an estimated $11.3 million from 3,090 locations.

The adaptation of the W. Bruce Cameron novel received an "A-" CinemaScore from opening day audiences.







Sony Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is fresh of its win at the Golden Globes last weekend and continued its excellent box office run with an estimated $9 million this weekend, dropping just 31% as it begins its fifth week in release.

The film's domestic cume now stands at $147.7 million as it will soon top the animation house's Hotel Transylvania and become SPA's third highest grossing domestic release of all-time.

Spider-Verse also added another $9.4 million internationally this weekend for a global cume that now tops $300 million.







Rounding out the top five is Sony's Escape Room, which had an excellent opening last weekend and followed that up with an estimated $8.9 million this weekend, bringing the $9 million production's domestic cume to $32.4 million after just ten days in release.







Outside the top five, in eighth position, we find the expansion of Focus Features's On the Basis of Sex, which brought in an estimated $6.2 million from 1,923 locations (+1,811).

The film received an "A" CinemaScore from audiences this weekend and has a domestic cume that now totals $10.55 million.







Also expanding this weekend, Annapurna's If Beale Street Could Talk hasn't quite caught on as many may have expected earlier in the year as the film brought in an estimated $2.38 million from 1,018 locations (+683).

The film's domestic cume now stands at $7.68 million as it begins its fifth week in release.







One notch further down the list we come to Entertainment Studios's Replicas, a sci-fi thriller that was pretty much destroyed by critics and audiences didn't seem to care for the Keanu Reeves starrer either, giving it a "C" CinemaScore.

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise it debuted with just $2.5 million this weekend from 2,329 locations for a $1,073 per theater average. The performance ranks as one of the worst all-time among films debuting in over 2,000 theaters.







In limited release, Lionsgate's release of Pantelion's Perfect Strangers brought in an estimated $425,000 from 132 locations ($3,220 PTA) and Cohen Media's The Aspern Papers grossed $9,277 from ten locations ($928 PTA).

https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4475&p=.htm









January 11-13, 2019 Weekend Studio Estimates:


1. The Upside $19,590,000
2. Aquaman $17,265,000 / $287,861,781
3. A Dog's Way Home $11,300,000
4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $9,000,000 / $147,775,445
5. Escape Room $8,900,000 / $32,432,931
6. Mary Poppins Returns $7,215,000 / $150,656,985
7. Bumblebee $6,775,000 / $108,469,977
8. On the Basis of Sex $6,227,000 / $10,557,847
9. The Mule $5,545,000 / $90,578,396
10. The Vice $3,278,644 / $35,936,486