Newer studio STXfilms has landed its first #1 with ‘The Upside’, the feel-good drama from director Neil Burger (‘Divergent’), starring Bryan Cranston and the recently embattled Kevin Hart. Earning $19.59M, ‘The Upside’ knocked ‘Aquaman’ from the #1 spot for the first time since its release a month ago. Audiences love it, with an A CinemaScore. Women over 25 made up the majority of crowds. Since ‘The Upside’ technically premiered last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, STX is mounting an awards season push for it, but that may be an uphill battle since critics hate it. It has a 40% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
Earning $17.3M, ‘Aquaman’s domestic take now sits at $287.8M, and has crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide. This is only the third movie based on a DC Comic book character to do so, following ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. Should ‘Aquaman’ continue to do well, it’s possible that it could outperform both of them.
Another new movie took the #3 position, Sony’s ‘A Dog’s Way Home’. Like ‘The Upside’, this film benefits from being heartwarming, and maybe that’s what audiences are looking for with winter really beginning to hit parts of the country. Earning $11.3M, this film is also resonating with viewers, with an A- CinemaScore.
Horror movie ‘Escape Room’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ round out the Top Five.
- The Upside (STXfilms) – $19.59M
- Aquaman (Warner Brothers) – $17.3M
- A Dog’s Way Home (Sony) – $11.3M
- Escape Room (Sony) – $8.5M
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Sony) – $7.5M
Outside of the Top Five, ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ earned another $6M this weekend, bringing its domestic total to over $150M, making it the fifth highest-grossing live-action musical on record and it is expected to become the fourth, by edging past ‘La La Land’ which earned $151M total.
The new Keanu Reeves sci-fi drama ‘Replicas’ is a dud, earning just $2.4M, with exiting audience members condemning it with a C CinemaScore. Critics also hated it, with it ranking at 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. As The Guardian’s Charles Bramesco stated, “After what may be one hundred hours, the film does not so much end as it stops.”
This marks the poorest wide opening of Reeves’ career. Social media monitoring service Relish Mix reports that the only online buzz for ‘Replicas’ whatsoever is from pirates advising one another on where they can view the movie online.
Next week’s biggest new release is M. Night Shyamalan’s crossover ‘Glass’, which connects characters from his previous hits ‘Unbreakable’ and ‘Split’. ‘Split’ was a surprise hit in 2016, while ‘Unbreakable’ has become a cult classic, especially among comic book fans. ‘Glass’ likely would have been shattered in a more competitive time, but during the quiet early year months, it will likely do quite well.
The only other film that may make any noise is the animated film ‘Arctic Justice’, which features the voices of James Franco, Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin, and Anjelica Huston.
Check back to see how things fare!
Source: Deadline
