Unlikely film finds an ‘Upside’

In a movie era dominated by thrillers and superheroes, few saw this coming: the weekend’s top box-office draw in North America was The Upside, the story of a wealthy quadriplegic and his ex-convict caregiver.

STX’s The Upside – one of the last films made by Harvey Weinstein before sexual abuse allegations brought his Hollywood career crashing down, and due to be released in SA on February 1 – took in an estimated $19.6m (R272m) for the three-day period, ending the three-week reign of Aquaman, which earned $17.3m (R240m), according to industry watcher Exhibitor Relations.

With Bryan Cranston as the wheelchair-bound billionaire and Kevin Hart as the man he hires to help him, The Upside is a remake of 2011 French hit Les Intouchables.

After premiering in 2017 at the Toronto film festival, it was shelved as allegations against Weinstein multiplied.

STX and Lantern Capital then bought its rights and re-edited it for a broader audience, Variety reported.

While Warner Bros’s Aquaman slipped to second place, it has surged past the $1bn mark worldwide, the first DC comicbook film to do so since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.

The US market was particularly good this weekend for Nicole Kidman, who co-stars in both of the top two movies.

In third place was Sony’s new release, A Dog’s Way Home, which is not scheduled for release in South Africa until March 15.

It took in $11.3m (R157m). Bryce Dallas Howard voices the pooch in the title, who has a series of adventures after being separated from her owner. Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse, also from Sony, continued to perform well, taking in $9m (R125m) in its fifth week out to place fourth at the box office. It won the Best Animated Movie award at the recent Golden Globe ceremony.

Yet another Sony film, Escape

Room, scheduled for release in SA on March 22, took in $8.9m (R123m) to take the fifth spot.

The film stars Logan Miller and Taylor Russell as part of a group facing deadly consequences when sent into an escape room.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were Mary Poppins Returns, Bumblebee, On the Basis of Sex, The Mule and Vice