It’s a big weekend for Warner Bros. and the DC Universe, as “Aquaman” will easily take the top spot on this pre-Christmas box office.
Released on 4,125 screens, the James Wan blockbuster made $28 million on Friday and is currently projected for an opening weekend of $70-75 million, though that estimate could increase to $80 million. The movie has already made over $300 million from overseas markets and could hit $500 million worldwide by Christmas Day.
While critics weren’t as strong in their praise for “Aquaman” as they were for “Wonder Woman,” reviews were still fairly positive with a 63 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and an A- on CinemaScore from audiences. With this strong start, “Aquaman” should pass the global total for “Justice League” ($657.9 million) in early January.
In a distant race for second are three films that will be looking beyond this weekend for long-term success in the holiday season. Currently in the No. 2 spot is Paramount’s “Bumblebee,” which made $8.4 million from 3,550 screens and is estimated for a $22 million opening weekend.
While that’s well-below what trackers projected, the film has the word of mouth to rebound in the coming weeks. Critics — who have uniformly panned the “Transformers” series for a decade — have praised director Travis Knight’s spinoff with a 94 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, the highest of any new release this weekend. “Transformers” fans agree, giving the film an A- on CinemaScore.
In third is Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns,” which made $6.7 million on Friday from 4,090 screens. Released on Wednesday, the musical sequel is looking at a $21.5 million three-day opening and a $30 million five-day opening. Disney will look to leg out with musical lovers and older audiences who saw the original “Mary Poppins,” following in the footsteps of last year’s “The Greatest Showman,” which seemed to be headed for a flop with a $13 million opening but had a $174 million domestic run.
Holdovers complete the top five, with “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” holding on decently in the face of tough family film competition. The Sony animated film is looking at a fourth-place finish with a $17.8 million weekend, roughly a 50 percent drop-off from its $35.4 million opening. Warner Bros.’ “The Mule” is in fifth with an estimated $10 million second weekend.
Outside the top five, STX’s “Second Act” is looking at an opening of around $7 million from 2,607 screens after making $2.4 million on Friday. It’s slightly below the $8 million studio projection for this Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy, which was made on a $16 million budget. Reception was mixed with a 41 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a B+ on CinemaScore.
By far the worst opening belonged to Universal’s “Welcome to Marwen,” which has been panned by critics despite having Robert Zemeckis and Steve Carell as director and star and is looking at a meager opening of $2.7 million after making just $909,000 from 1,911 screens. With a 25 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a B- from CinemaScore polls, this $40 million true-story inspirational tale is going to be a second straight flop for Universal. The other big bomb, “Mortal Engines,” is falling a staggering 76 percent and is estimated to make $1.8 million this weekend for a total of $12.1 million.
The one bit of good news for Universal has been “The Grinch,” which continues to be the gift that keeps on giving with just under $9 million grossed in its seventh weekend, pushing the domestic total to $253 million.
2018's Biggest Box Office Bombs, From 'Gotti' to 'Solo' (Photos)
2018 was a great year for the box office, with plenty of record-breaking hits, but even a good year has its bombs. Here are ten of the most notable disappointments this year, including one from the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time.
"London Fields" -- Budget: $8 million, Global gross: $295,435
This critically panned noir film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2015 and has spent the past three years mired in lawsuits between the producers and lead star Amber Heard and director Matthew Cullen. After the Heard lawsuit was resolved, the film was released in October and suffered the second-worst wide release opening in box office history.
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"Nutcracker and the Four Realms" -- Budget: $120 million, Global gross: $151.9 million so far
Two days after Halloween, Disney released this dark fantasy loosely based on the famous Russian ballet synonymous with Christmas. But critics weren't impressed by much beyond the film's dance sequences, and families saved their money to go see "The Grinch" and another Disney film, "Ralph Breaks the Internet," later in the month. With a $20 million opening weekend, "Nutcracker" suffered Disney's worst start since "The BFG" in 2016.
Disney
"Early Man" -- Budget: $50 million, Global gross: $54 million
How far has stop-motion animation fallen? Nick Park and Aardman Studios, creators of "Wallace & Gromit," earned praise from critics for this prehistoric comedy. But Lionsgate released it in the U.S. the same weekend as "Black Panther" and it was ignored in the U.S. with only $8.2 million grossed. The only country where the film made more than $10 million is Aardman's homeland, the U.K., with $15 million.
Lionsgate
"Annihilation" -- Budget: $40 million, Global gross: $43 million
It was an intelligent sci-fi tale with profound existential themes. It had an all-star female cast led by Natalie Portman. It was made by the director of "Ex Machina." And it failed to make its budget back with $32 million domestic and $10 million from China, with Paramount selling distribution rights for the rest of the world to Netflix. Maybe it will achieve "cult classic" status someday...
Paramount
"The Darkest Minds" -- Budget: $34 million, Global gross: $41 million
YA novel adaptations continue to fall flat in this post-"Hunger Games" world, as this tale of superpowered teens on the run got little marketing support from Fox and fell flat after being released in August.
"The Hurricane Heist" -- Budget: $35 million, Global gross: $31 million
Some films are based on concepts the general public just has no interest in thanks to recent events. Take this disaster thriller from "The Fast and the Furious" director Rob Cohen about two brothers who are caught up in a heist to steal millions from a federal facility during a Category 5 hurricane. With hurricanes destroying entire towns in real life on an annual basis now thanks to climate change, this probably wasn't many moviegoers' idea of a fun time at the movies.
Entertainment Studios
"Death Wish" -- Budget: $30 million, Global gross: $48 million
Charles Bronson's 1974 revenge film may have become a cult classic, but an Eli Roth-directed, Bruce Willis-starring remake is probably not what Americans are looking for at a time when deadly shootings are an almost daily occurrence. MGM moved the release date from November 2017 to March 2018 not long after last year's Las Vegas shooting... only for it to come out three weeks after the Parkland High School massacre.
MGM
"Gotti" -- Budget: $10 million, Global gross: $4.1 million.
The ill-fated mafia biopic started development in 2010 and weathered problems such as the replacement of lead Joe Pesci with John Travolta (sparkign a lawsuit), having Lionsgate drop the film two weeks before release, and getting picked up by the struggling MoviePass. The film was finally released in June to a unanimous critical drubbing. It failed to make back its budget, and MoviePass, a subscription service that pays for its users tickets, accounted for 40 percent of tickets sold.
Vertical Entertainment
“The Happytime Murders” — Budget: $40 million, Global gross: $27 million
Melissa McCarthy’s 2018 will be best remembered for her Oscar-contending performance in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, which is good, because she also starred in this panned crime parody of the Muppets, which failed to make back its budget and was one of several films that struggled for distributor STX
"Solo: A Star Wars Story" -- Budget: $250 million, Global gross: $392 million
Disney broke box office records left and right this year, but it also had the most high-profile bomb of the year with this "Star Wars" anthology film that told the origins of Han Solo. Its release was preceded by a famously troubled production: original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired over creative differences with just under a month left in filming; they were replaced by Ron Howard; the budget inflated as roles were recast and much of the film was entirely re-shot. Upon release, "Solo" became the first "Star Wars" film ever to fail to gross $400 million worldwide. With "Episode IX" still a year away, Disney execs have said that they're taking another look at how they handle future films in this hallowed series.
Lucasfilm
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It’s been a good year for the box office, but not for these movies
2018 was a great year for the box office, with plenty of record-breaking hits, but even a good year has its bombs. Here are ten of the most notable disappointments this year, including one from the biggest blockbuster franchise of all time.
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