Ralph tops box office again, Aquaman a hit in China
In the calm before the Christmas storm at the box office, Ralph Breaks The Internet remained No.1 for a third week, while the upcoming DC Comics superhero film Aquaman arrived with a cannonball-sized splash in Chinese cinemas.
For the second week in a row, no new wide releases opened in North American theatres, allowing Disney’s animated sequel to again lead domestic ticket sales with US$16.1 million (528 million baht), according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The top six films at the box office were all unchanged. Universal’s The Grinch, still a major draw in its fifth weekend, trailed in second with $15.2 million.
But the weekend’s biggest new arrival was in China, where Warner Bros’ Aquaman debuted with $93.6 million in ticket sales. That marked a new opening-weekend record for both Warner Bros and DC in China. Considering the checkered recent history of DC films ( Justice League, Suicide Squad), the big launch in China was a promising sign for the spin-off starring Jason Momoa.
Aquaman will expand to 40 international countries next week and arrive in North American theatres on Dec 21.
Aquaman wasn’t the only big-budget holiday season release receiving a lift this week. Paramount’s Transformers prequel Bumblebee played a one-night sneak preview in 326 cinemas nationwide ahead of its Dec 21 release.
Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns, due out Dec 19, also helped its cause with four Golden Globe nominations, including best picture, comedy or musical, and acting nods for Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
The feel-good interracial road trip period tale Green Book fared even better at the Globes (five nominations, including best picture, comedy or musical, and acting nods for Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen) and had good results at the box office to show for it. In its fourth week of release, Green Book held with a rare 0% drop, earning $3.9 million in 1,181 theatres. It has grossed $20 million in total.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ comic period drama The Favourite continued to pick up steam. The acclaimed Fox Searchlight release, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, expanded into 91 theatres over the weekend to gross $1.4 million ($15,000 per theatre).
A more traditional royal drama, Mary Queen Of Scots, also opened strongly in limited release. The Focus Features title, starring Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth I, debuted in four theatres with a robust $50,045 per-theatre average.
To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, Universal re-released the Holocaust epic in 1,029 theatres. But it failed to turn out large crowds, grossing a modest $551,000.
Next weekend, the box office is expected to be significantly busier with the release of Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse, Once Upon a Deadpool and Clint Eastwood’s The Mule and Mortal Engines.