‘The Upside’ Leads With $19.5 Million at Box Office, as ‘Aquaman’ Crosses $1 Billion Worldwide
STX earns its first No. 1 film, while Warner Bros. gets its first billion-dollar hit since 2012
Jeremy Fuster | January 13, 2019 @ 8:02 AM
Last Updated: January 13, 2019 @ 10:20 AM
STX
STX and Warner Bros. came out as the big box office winners this weekend. STX saw its first No. 1 opening with “The Upside,” which beat tracker expectations with an estimated $19.5 million opening from 3,080 screen. It was expected to open to $10-12 million.
WB, meanwhile, won’t take their fourth straight No. 1 weekend, but “Aquaman” will still become the studio’s first $1 billion hit since “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012 and the fifth in studio history. The superhero film added $17 million this weekend to push its domestic total to $287 million.
“The Upside” was originally supposed to be an R-Rated film released last year by The Weinstein Company. But after Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual misconduct and TWC declared bankruptcy, STX reached a distribution deal last August with Lantern Entertainment, the label created out of TWC’s bankruptcy sale to Lantern Capital. The film was then re-cut for a PG-13 rating, a move that has paid off, as the film has earned an A on CinemaScore even as critics have given it just 40 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
In third this weekend is Sony’s “A Dog’s Way Home,” which is opening to $11.3 million from 3,090 screens and against an $18 million production budget. By comparison, the last film adapted from a W. Bruce Cameron novel, “A Dog’s Purpose,” opened to $18 million in January 2017. “A Dog’s Way Home” has a CinemaScore rating of A- and a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 59 percent.
The third new release of the weekend is Entertainment Studios’ “Replicas,” which is turning out to be the worst wide opening ever for lead star Keanu Reeves with just $2.2 million grossed from 2,329 screens. Critics and audiences alike have panned the film, giving it a C on CinemaScore and 11 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Elsewhere on the charts, holiday releases “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and “Mary Poppins Returns” are both approaching $150 million domestic. “Spider-Verse” is fifth on this weekend’s charts with $7.5 million weekend total and a $146 million cume, while “Poppins” is in seventh with $6 million and a $149.4 million cume.
Meanwhile, on the awards/specialty front, Focus Features has expanded “On the Basis of Sex” to 1,923 screens, earning $6.4 million to push its total to $10.3 million. Fans of Ruth Bader Ginsburg have given the film an A on CinemaScore to go with its 70 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating. Annapurna’s “If Beale Street Could Talk,” fresh off of Regina King’s Golden Globe win, expanded to 1,018 screens and added $2.3 million for a $7.7 million total.
As for the two top winners from the Golden Globes, Fox’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” added a sing-along version of the film to theaters as the film expanded back to 1,334 screens, grossing $3 million as it inches closer to $200 million domestic after crossing $750 million this past week. Universal is holding its largest expansion for “Green Book” until after Oscar nominations, but did increase the screen count to 742 this weekend.
“Green Book” now has $38.5 million after making $2.1 million this weekend, following a week in which director Peter Farrelly apologized for sexually explicit pranks he discussed in a 1998 Newsweek interview, and screenwriter Nick Vallelonga apologized for a 2015 tweet in which he accused New Jersey Muslims of celebrating the 9/11 attacks.
Top 10 Box Office Predictions for 2019 (Photos)
2019 has just gotten started, and it's already looking like it could very well bring a box office as big as 2018. That's thanks in large part to Disney, which is sporting six -- yes, SIX -- films that could make a bid to earn over $1 billion worldwide this year. That's why the company dominates our predictions for the top 10 highest global grossing films of 2019, including the top five slots.
Marvel Studios
10.) "Spider-Man: Far From Home" (July 5) -- Sony will get in on the Marvel Studios money train with this sequel to "Spider-Man: Homecoming," which made $880 million worldwide in 2017. With "The Lion King" hitting theaters two weeks after this film, it's possible that "Far From Home" could see a smaller total figure due to the competition. What could counter that is if "Avengers: Endgame" leaves an intriguing narrative thread for the (currently dead) Peter Parker to pick up, creating more interest among fans to see the first post-Thanos chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Marvel Studios
9.) "Captain Marvel" (March 8) -- Again, the connection to "Avengers" will play a factor here. Of the potential billion-dollar Disney releases, "Captain Marvel" seems the least likely simply because recent MCU films that introduce new heroes like "Doctor Strange" don't perform as well as the "Captain Americas" and "Avengers" of the franchise. "Black Panther" was the exception, but "Captain Marvel" isn't showing signs of the same cultural momentum. On the other hand, Carol Danvers is supposed to play a major role in "Endgame," so that might make this essential viewing for even casual MCU fans.
Disney/Marvel Studios
8.) "Jumanji 3" (December 13) -- "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" ended with the titular magical game being destroyed. But then the film made $962 million, so get ready for a plot loophole and a third jungle adventure. There's little reason to doubt that "Jumanji 3" will perform well again against "Star Wars." The question is whether the incredible chemistry between Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Jack Black will be enough to push this threequel even further and give Sony its second billion-dollar hit in the studio's history.
Sony
7.) "The Secret Life of Pets 2" (June 7) -- Illumination may not yet have Pixar's pedigree, but it is now a box office force beyond just the Minions. The first "Secret Life" was one of the top 10 films of 2016 with $875 million, and even though "Toy Story 4" comes out two weeks later, this sequel should have strong enough name recognition to have a solid hold with family audiences in June.
Universal/Illumination
6.) "Hobbs & Shaw" (August 2) -- The full name of this film is "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw," and it's probably going to be essential for Universal to put this spinoff's connection to its car franchise right in the title. The last "F&F" film, "The Fate of the Furious," made $1 billion in overseas grosses alone, and Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham have become as strong a draw as Vin Diesel and the franchise's original cast. Now it's time to see if Dominic Toretto and the Family can be removed from the equation without a drop in the numbers.
Universal
5.) "Star Wars: Episode IX" (December 20) -- This will be the most scrutinized release of the year. After "Solo" became one of the biggest disappointments of 2018, there will be many eyes on the final chapter of the Rey/Finn "Star Wars" trilogy and how it performs compared to the polarizing "Last Jedi." The popularity of both the old and new characters should push "Episode IX" back to $1 billion. But films like "Jumanji 3" show other studios aren't afraid of "Star Wars" anymore, and the standard of success for the godfather of movie franchises is higher than any other.
Disney/Lucasfilm
4.) "Toy Story 4" (June 21) -- Can you believe it's been nine years since "Toy Story 3" grossed $1 billion and earned a Best Picture nomination? Much like "Incredibles 2" last year, Buzz and Woody's fourth adventure should score a huge opening weekend. But word-of-mouth will determine how the film performs going into a July with "Far From Home" and "Lion King."
Disney/Pixar
3.) "Frozen 2" (November 22) -- Six years after its release, "Frozen" has become the Disney classic for Gen Z in much the same way the Disney Renaissance and Pixar formed the childhood memories of countless Gen Xers and Millennials. Released ahead of Thanksgiving weekend, the sequel should hit theaters with overwhelming hype and a chance to pass the original's $1.27 billion global total.
Disney
2.) "The Lion King" (July 19) -- Nostalgia for "Beauty and the Beast" pushed its 2017 remake to $1.26 billion worldwide. "The Lion King" arguably has an even bigger nostalgia factor...and this remake has Beyonce and Childish Gambino in it. With no major family-film competition from mid-July through the end of the summer, this film is going to make incredible amounts of money.
Disney
1.) "Avengers: Endgame" (April 26) -- Is there any real doubt? Marvel has left its fans babbling about the "snap" since "Infinity War" came out last April, and every single one of them will be back in theaters to see how Captain Marvel and the remaining Avengers warp time and space to undo Thanos' genocide. The question isn't whether "Endgame" will be the top box office hit of 2019, but whether it will beat the $2.04 billion global total made by "Infinity War" or its record $257.4 domestic opening.
Disney/Marvel Studios
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Just like 2018, Disney is going to be all over this year’s box office
2019 has just gotten started, and it's already looking like it could very well bring a box office as big as 2018. That's thanks in large part to Disney, which is sporting six -- yes, SIX -- films that could make a bid to earn over $1 billion worldwide this year. That's why the company dominates our predictions for the top 10 highest global grossing films of 2019, including the top five slots.