Aquaman movie sequel drifts to first on the weekend before Christmas

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom led a crowd of new releases at the box office on the weekend before Christmas Monday.

The DC and Warner Bros. superhero sequel starring Jason Momoa earned an estimated US$28.1 million in its first three days of release in 3,706 locations in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. By Monday, it is projected to have around US$40 million in domestic ticket sales.

Despite many new offerings — including the family friendly animated film Migration, the R-rated romantic comedy Anyone But You, the wrestling tragedy The Iron Claw and a ghostly tearjerker in All of Us Strangers — this will go down as a quieter pre-holiday frame at the box office. Moviegoing audiences perhaps just had other priorities than going to the cinema.

It is never great for Hollywood or theatres when Christmas Eve falls on a prime weekend day, but the last time Christmas was on a Monday, in 2017, Star Wars: The Last Jedi dominated the four-day charts with US$71.5 million from its second weekend.

On Christmas Day, which often brings big crowds back to the theatres, they’ll be joined by more new films, including the big budget musical adaptation of The Color Purple, Michael Mann’s racing film Ferrari and George Clooney’s adaptation of the rowing drama The Boys in the Boat. All should get a boost between Christmas and New Year's, too, a traditionally lucrative time for movie theatres.

But none will compare some of the biggest holiday earners, like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avatar and Spider-Man: No Way Home. It was not lost on social media that this was the weekend that Patty Jenkins’s Star Wars movie Rogue Squadron was supposed to come out.

“Seven openers in the course of four days is unusual,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.

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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is estimated to have cost around US$200 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion costs. The first film opened to US$67.8 million in 2018 and went on to make almost US$1.2 billion globally. Dergarabedian noted that the first film also earned more than 70 per cent of its box office internationally.

The Aquaman opening ends a tricky, transitional year for DC superhero films, full of box-office disappointments including Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Blue Beetle, as the studio phases out this slate to welcome in James Gunn’s vision for the future. Aquaman 2 was the final “holdover” of the previous administration.

Its studio, Warner Bros. also has the No. 2 movie of the weekend, Wonka and one of the major Christmas openings, The Color Purple, a buffet of big movies that was sorely needed by theatres – especially without no new movie from the Walt Disney Company or Paramount. By Monday, Warner Bros. will likely have three spots in the top five.

“Warners has something for everybody,” said Jeff Goldstein, the studio's head of domestic distribution. ”With lots of holiday time to see all three."

Wonka, in its second weekend, earned an estimated US$17.7 million over the weekend and US$26.1 million including Monday, bringing its total domestic earnings to US$83.6 million.

Third place went to Illumination and Universal’s Migration, a PG-rated animated adventure about a family of mallards travelling South. Voice actors include Kumail Najiani, Elizabeth Banks and Awkwafina. It earned an estimated US$12.3 million from 3,761 locations in North America through Sunday, which will likely increase to US$17.1 million by the end of Monday. Its global total through Sunday is sitting at an estimated US$34.3 million, and it could soar with kids out of school.

"Migration flew into theatres with really, really exciting audience reactions pointing to what we think won’t just be a fantastic run throughout the holidays but also into the next year,” said Jim Orr, Universal's head of domestic distribution.

Aside from Disney's re-releases of some of its Pixar titles early in the year, there will be no new direct competition until Kung Fu Panda 4 comes out on March 8.

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In fifth place was the Telugu-language action film Salaar: Part 1—Ceasefire, which made US$5.5 million from only 802 theatres. The top 10 was rounded out by another Indian film, the Hindi-language Dunki, which earned US$2.7 million from 686 locations. The top 10 also included two Japanese films in Godzilla Minus One and The Boy and the Heron.

Female audiences helped the Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney romantic comedy Anyone But You land a fourth place start with an estimated US$6.2 million from its first three days and nearly US$9 million including Monday. Directed by Will Gluck, the movie that was loosely inspired by Much Ado About Nothing divided critics sharply with some crying foul and others celebrating the return of a beloved genre that has recently seemed relegated to Netflix. Audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore.

A24’s The Iron Claw, about the tragedy-stricken Von Erich wrestling family, opened on 2,774 screens riding a wave of good reviews praising Zac Efron’s transformative lead performance. The studio estimates its three-day earnings to be US$5.1 million, which should go up to US$7.5 million by the end of Monday. It got an A- CinemaScore from audiences, which is the highest ever for the studio behind Everything Everywhere All At Once. The studio also has Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest on six screens where it made US$89,931 over the weekend.

Searchlight Pictures' All of Us Strangers, starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal, opened in four theatres in New York and Los Angeles this weekend with a strong US$33,034 per/theatre average. Yorgos Lanthimos's gothic black comedy Poor Things also expanded to 800 theatres where it earned US$2.1 million.

"No matter where the box office ends up on the 31, whether it hits $9 billion or is just close, this is just a boom time to be a moviegoer," Dergarabedian said. "The top 10 reads like a greatest hits of every type of cinema.”

Estimated ticket sales are for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures including Christmas Day will be released Tuesday.

TOP 10 FILMS

1. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, US$28.1 million.

2. Wonka, US$17.7 million.

3. Migration, US$12.3 million.

4. Anyone But You, US$6.2 million.

5. Salaar: Part 1-Ceasefire, US$5.5 million.

6. The Iron Claw, US$5.1 million.

7. The Hunger Games: The Ballard of Songbirds & Snakes, US$3.2 million

8. The Boy and the Heron, US$3.2 million.

9. Godzilla Minus One, US$2.7 million.

10. Dunki, US$2.7 million.