Aquaman Crosses the $1 Billion Mark, But The Upside Takes #1 Spot

STXfilms and Lantern Entertainment’s The Upside took the #1 spot at the domestic box office, dethroning Aquaman from the top spot after four weeks. The film brought in an estimated $19.59 million at the box office this weekend nearly doubling all pre-release tracking expectations for the dramatic comedy which received an A CinemaScore. Directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Limitless), The Upside stars Kevin Hart, Bryan Cranston, and Nicole Kidman and is a remake of the 2011 box office hit French film Les Intouchables.

Warner Bros.’ Aquaman slipped into second place at the domestic box office, but crossed an extraordinary feat for the DCEU by breaking the $1 billion mark worldwide. The film brought in $17.26 million at the US box office, giving it a domestic total of $287.86 million and is within striking distance of surpassing 2013’s Man of Steel domestic total (which ended its run with $291 million). Internationally the film added another $27.9 million to its tally, giving it an international total of $732.4 million and giving it a global total of $1.02 billion. Directed by James Wan, Aquaman stars Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe, Patrick Wilson, Dolph Lundgren, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman.

Columbia Pictures/Bona Film Group’s family film A Dog’s Way Home opened in third place domestically with an estimated total of $11.3 million, above studio expectations and in line with industry expectations. It marks a significant dip from the film’s predecessor, A Dog’s Purpose, which opened with $18.22 million in 2017. Directed by Charles Martin Smith, the screenplay is by W. Bruce Cameron & Cathryn Michon based on the book by W. Bruce Cameron. The film stars Ashley Judd, Jonah Hauer-King, Edward James Olmos and Alexandra Shipp with Wes Studi and Bryce Dallas Howard.

Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse held onto fourth place once again, adding another $9 million to its total and bringing its domestic haul to $147.775 million. Internationally the film took in $9.4 million across 65 markets for an international total of $154.6 million and giving it a global total of $302.4 million. Directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, Spider-Verse features the voices of Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Brian Tyree Henry, Lily Tomlin, Luna Lauren Velez, Zoë Kravitz, John Mulaney, Kimiko Glenn with Nicolas Cage, Kathryn Hahn and Liev Schreiber.

Sony Pictures’ Escape Room fell from second to fifth place, adding another $8.9 million for a domestic total of $32.433 million. Internationally the film added another $2.5 million from 15 early markets, the horror-thriller will roll out into Mexico, UK, Russia, Brazil, and most importantly China, in the coming weeks. Directed by Adam Robitel, Escape Room stars Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine and Nik Dodani with Yorick van Wageningen.

Walt Disney Studios’ Mary Poppins Returns fell to sixth place at the domestic box office, bringing in $7.2 million for a US total of $150.7 million. Internationally the sequel added $10.6 million for a total of $137.2 million and giving it a global total of $287.9 million. The cast of Mary Poppins Returns includes Emily Blunt, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award winner Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer and Julie Walters, with Colin Firth and Meryl Streep. Dick Van Dyke also returns for the film, directed by Rob Marshall.

Paramount’s Bumblebee fell to seventh place, bringing in $6.775 million for the weekend. The film now sits a $108.47 million domestically. Internationally, Bumblebee added $35.6 million for an international total of $256.3 million and a global total of $364.77 million. The film still sits well behind the other movies in the live-action Transformers series with 2017’s Transformers: The Last Knight still ahead of it with $605.4 million worldwide; however, Bumblebee was produced on a much smaller budget (reported as $135 million compared to The Last Knight‘s $217 million). Directed by Travis Knight, the film stars Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, with the voices of Dylan O’Brien, Peter Cullen, Angela Bassett, and Justin Theroux.

Focus Features‘ legal drama On the Basis of Sex expanded into wide release this weekend, bringing in $6.227 million and giving it a domestic total of $10.557 million. The Ruth Bader Ginsberg biopic stars Felicity Jones, Armie Hammer, Justin Theroux, Oscar winner Kathy Bates, Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner Sam Waterston, Jack Reynor (Detroit), Stephen Root (Get Out, All the Way), and Cailee Spaeny. The film is directed by multiple Emmy Award winner Mimi Leder (Deep Impact, The Leftovers).

Warner Bros.’ The Mule, the latest directorial and acting effort from Clint Eastwood, added $5.45 million to its domestic total, which now sits at $90.578 million. The film, which only began production in June before debuting in theaters in December, is nearing the $100 million mark where it would join other Eastwood features that crossed that threshold including Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Sully, Gran Torino, and American Sniper.