Q: What’s as underwhelming as this year’s Oscar nominations?
A: This weekend’s box office.
Theaters across North America were a dead zone this weekend as holdovers Glass and The Upside were the only films showing any real signs of life. Newcomers The Kid Who Would Be King and Serenity were left out in the cold while a handful of Best Picture nominees saw modest spikes in business following last Tuesday’s announcements.
Overall, the 2019 box office continued its struggle to come to life. The top ten was not only down 31% from last weekend, it was down 26% from one year ago at this time as well. The box office hibernation will only get worse next week thanks to the upcoming Super Bowl.
Universal’s Glass used its box office superpowers to conjure up an estimated $19 million from 3,844 screens. The ten-day domestic total for the sequel now stands at $73.5 million.
Glass’53% drop was steeper than the 36% Split encountered two years ago in its second weekend, which could be a combination of upfront fan demand and mixed feedback among viewers. If the film continues to burn out at this rate, Glass could wind down with approximately $110-115 million in ticket sales.
Overseas, Glass has earned $89 million so far.
After three weeks, STX’s The Upside has shown no downside business-wise. The hit has been the recipient of strong word-of-mouth among viewers, resulting in minimal business drops such as the 18% experienced this weekend. Now on 3,377 screens, The Upside added $12.2 million this weekend, bringing the domestic total up to $63 million. The Kevin Hart/Bryan Cranston drama could wind down with $100 million by the end of its run.
Still finding plenty of fish in the box office sea, Warner’s Aquaman surfaced in third place with an estimated $7.35 million from 3,134 theaters. After six weeks, the Fishdude Who Would Be Box Office King has brought in $316.5 million so far and could finish close to the $340 million mark. Foreign grosses for Aquaman are now at $766 million. With $1.09 billion in the global bank, Aquaman has officially become the highest-grossing DC title of all time.
Opening quietly in fourth place with a dismal $7.2 million from 3,521 theaters was Fox’ The Kid Who Would Be King. The latest feature from Attack the Block director Joe Cornish had plenty of support from the critics. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome a bad release date and a family market still recuperating from the holiday movie season. Critics gave the Kid Arthur tale a solid 86% approval on Rotten Tomatoes and a 66/100 on Metacritic while ticket buyers knighted the film with a “B+” on CinemaScore.
Rounding out the top five in its seventh week is Sony’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse with an estimated $6.1 million from 2,383 venues. Now a Best Animated Feature nominee, Spider-Verse dipped a mere 19% in business this weekend, which helped push its overall domestic total up to $169 million. Overseas, Spider-Verse has also earned $169 million so far.
- Green Book (Universal) $5.4 million (+150%); $49 million
Five Oscar nominations -including Best Picture- finally gave the Universal film the box office jolt it desperately needed.
- A Dog’s Way Home (Sony) $5.2 million (-27%); $31 million
- Serenity (2019) (Aviron) $4.8 million
No, it’s not a reissue of the 2005 Joss Whedon feature; it’s a drama starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Both the critics and public hated the film, with the latter giving it a toxic “D+” on CinemaScore.
- Escape Room (Sony) $4.2 million (-24%); $48 million
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly (FUNimation) $3.6 million (-63%); $29 million
In addition to Green Book, fellow Best Picture nominees Bohemian Rhapsody (+8% in ticket sales), A Star Is Born (+107%) and The Favourite (+217%) all experienced upticks in business. Only Annaupurna’s Vice (-1%) saw its fortunes reverse.
For Super Bowl weekend, the only new arrival is Sony’s Miss Bala. The PG-13 action feature will compete against Glass and The Upside for the chance to rule over what is sure to be 2019’s lowest-grossing weekend so far.
