Kevin Hart’s ‘The Upside’ beats ‘Aquaman’
Film, which also stars Bryan Cranston, beats expectations to open with $19.6M
NEW YORK — Kevin Hart isn’t hosting the Oscars, but he’s got a No. 1 movie. “The Upside,” starring Hart and Bryan Cranston, surpassed expectations to open with $19.6 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The strong performance of “The Upside” pushed “Aquaman” to second after the aquatic superhero’s three-week reign atop the North American box office. Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman” still passed $1 billion worldwide over the weekend, becoming the first DC Comics release to reach that mark since 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.”
“The Upside” opened on the heels of several weeks of Oscar drama surrounding Hart. The comedian last month withdrew from hosting the Academy Awards , just days after being named emcee, when he initially refused to apologize for years-old homophobic tweets.
“The Upside” is a remake of the 2012 French comedy “The Intouchables.” Ticket sales were almost twice industry forecasts. The film received poor reviews (40 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and was slammed by some critics for trading on the kind of gay panic humor that Hart was forced to apologize for.
Neil Burger’s film, which cost about $35 million to make, stars Hart as an ex-con who becomes a caretaker for a physically disabled author (Cranston). It was originally to be distributed by the Weinstein Co. Harvey Weinstein premiered the film at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival just before the many allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against him.
The weekend featured a number of duds. Keanu Reeves’ sci-fi thriller “Replicas” debuted with just $2.5 million — a career low for Reeves. Opening more solidly, in third place, was Sony’s canine adventure “A Dog’s Way Home” with $11.3 million.
The two biggest winners at last Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards — “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Green Book” — both saw a bump. Fox’s Freddie Mercury biopic, which increased its theater count with hundreds of sing-along screenings, was up 35 percent with $3.2 million. The best comedy/musical winner “Green Book” went up 16 percent with $2 million in its ninth week of release.
The Ruth Bader Ginsberg tale “On the Basis of Sex” grossed $6.2 million in 1,923 on its third weekend. Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation “If Beale Street Could Talk” took in $2.3 million in 1,018 theaters for Annapurna Pictures.
Next week will see the release of M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass,” expected to open with $50 million to $70 million. Advance reviews, however, have been poor, ranking 38 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.