Aquaman still tops. Mary Poppins also floats
Monday, December 31, 2018 at 7:30PM We haven't done a full weekend box office post in some time since we've been sharing the 'top grossing of the year' lists which are all updated if you missed them and you can see the hits in 11 different categories including docs, foreign films, female directors, gay directors, films with female leads, etcetera...
But as for what people were seeing Christmas week and this past weekend, here are the nation's top dozen+ movies chart for both wide releases and limited/expanding titles. Which titles were you catching up with?
| Weekend Box Office (Actuals) (December 28th-30th) |
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| W I D E 800+ screens |
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide |
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| 1 Aquaman $52.1 on 4125 screens (cum. $189.3) Review, Podcast |
1 🔺 Simmba $1.7 on 300 screens *NEW* |
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| 2 Mary Poppins Returns $28.3 on 4090 screens (cum. $99.2) Podcast ❤️ |
2 🔺 If Beale Street Could Talk $766k on 65 screens (cum. $1.9) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
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| 3 Bumblebee $20.9 on 3550 screens (cum. $67.1) |
3 🔺 On the Basis of Sex $685k on 33 screens (cum. $1.4) *NEW* |
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| 4 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $18.8 on 3813 screens (cum. $104.1) Review ❤️ | 4 Ben is Back $538k on 158 screens (cum. $1.7) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
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| 5 The Mule $12.1 on 2787 screens (cum. $61.1) Review |
5 🔺 Shoplifters $210k on 59 screens (cum. $1.2) Interview, Podcast, OSCAR FINALIST ❤️ |
Mary Poppins Returns is performing a little better than Into the Woods but we didn't think there'd be any comparison at all so it's a bit surprising. Will it have long long legs like The Greatest Showman? Aquaman meanwhile is performing way better than expected, not quite Wonder Woman levels but a huge success for DC after their Justice League trouble.
In limited release On the Basis of Sex had the highest per screen average which isn't surprising given RBG's superstar status of late. Shoplifters is continuing to pick up steam, crossing the million dollar mark this weekend, which puts it in the top 15 grossing foreign films of 2018.
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| 6 🔺 Vice $7.7 on 2442 screens (cum. $17.6) Podcast |
6 Free Solo $114k on 59 screens (cum. $11.2) Review ❤️ |
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| 7 🔺 Holmes & Watson $7.4 on 2776 screens (cum. $19.8) |
7 🔺 Stan & Ollie $78k on 5 screens *NEW* Review ❤️ |
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| 8 Second Act $7.3 on 2607 screens (cum. $21.9) |
8 At Eternity's Gate $74k on 50 screens (cum. $1.8) Review ❤️ |
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| 9 Ralph Breaks the Internet $6.7 on 2343 screens (cum. $175.9) |
9 🔺 Destroyer $55k on 3 screens (cum. $112k) Review ❤️ |
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| 10 Dr Seuss's The Grinch $4.1 on 2555 screens (cum. $265.4) Posterized |
10 🔺 Cold War $44k on 3 screens (cum. $143k) Review, Podcast, Oscar FINALIST ❤️ |
It's always tough to be those films that barely open right at the end of any year so Cold War, Stan & Ollie, Capernaum, and Destroyer are struggling to get noticed in the glut of year-end releases. Cold War and Capernaum might be buoyed by Oscar nominations in a few weeks time, though.
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| 11 🔺 Mary Queen of Scots $2.6 on 841 screens (cum. $9) Review |
11 🔺 Capernaum $29k on 9 screens (cum. $114k) Podcast , Oscar FINALIST ❤️ |
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| 12 🔺 The Favourite $2.4 on 809 screens (cum. $15.2) Review, Podcast ❤️ |
12 Swing Kids $24k on 13 screens (cum. $135k) |
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| 13 Bohemian Rhapsody $2.3 on 868 screens (cum. $189.2) Review, Podcast |
13 Vox Lux $21k on 45 screens (cum. $700k) Review, Podcast |
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| 14 Welcome to Marwen $2.2 on 1911 screens (cum. $7.7) |
14 Beautiful Boy $28k on 28 screens (cum. $7.5) Podcast, Worst of... |
| 🔺 = new or expanding theater count / ❤️ = recommended by TFE numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo |
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Finally The Favourite, now in wide release, continues to hold well, becoming Yorgos Lanthimos's biggest hit. And it's likely to play strong throughout Oscar season. Welcome to Marwen hasn't been so lucky, flopping hard. It wasn't extravagantly budgeted despite the visual fx so there's that but still... OUCH.
So, what did you see over Christmas week and the weekend? I went to Mary Poppins Returns on Christmas day and later in the week finally caught up with The Rider (good stuff) and streamed Bird Box which was just as lame as Eric promised.
Aquaman, Caperneum, Cold War, The Favourite, Vice, box office, sequels
Reader Comments (22)
I regrettably saw Mary, Queen of Scots ... more like Mary, Queen of Scat.
I saw The Wife. Glenn Close is great but the movie is the cliche it mocks other works for being. Close's performance is a slow burn and not showy for the first two-thirds of the movie( although you can see the still water running deep throughout) so I can see why people aren't noticing her performance. But it should be.
Looking at the picture I really thought that Pedro Pascal had a new movie called "Simmba" (it's not like that)
It was a big movie weekend:
1. Aquaman - So, Jason Momoa and I are probably getting married. And he was super fun. I feel like he and Amber Heard got different directorial notes because she was so dour in the movie and he was more fun. You know, whatevs. See it, fine. Skip it, fine.
2. Spiderman: Into the Spider-verse - Shocked how much I liked it. It is easily one of the best movies of the year. So fun, so clever, so well-done.
3. Mary Poppins Returns - People need to stop calling this a sequel. It is a note-for-note remake of Mary Poppins. And the remake isn't great, but it gets better as it goes along. I don't get the Blunt appeal. She was basically doing her best Maggie Smith in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie impression. The movie got better toward the end because there was less and less for her to do.
Cinema: caught up with MORTAL ENGINES (not as bad as it's ill-deserved caning suggests) and BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (was surprised to be in the "good" camp, as I was expecting to dislike it), and then saw new releases AQUAMAN (meh) and two great family films ,RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET and MARY POPPINS RETURNS.
Television/streaming: free-to-air (yes, it still exists) was showing the 2018 Australian film THAT'S NOT MY DOG!, which is basically a large bunch of comics getting together for a party and telling their best jokes - mauled by critics, but i got into the spirit/"Aussie"-ness of it. Then I caught up with minor award contenders SEARCHING and THE RIDER (both good).
Videotape (yes, videotape! I have a stack of videotapes of stuff recorded off the television that I haven't watched yet): Bertrand Tavernier's D'ARTAGNAN'S DAUGHTER (not one of this best).
And the obligatory Christmas movie for December 25 this year was DIE HARD 2.
I’m juggling catching new movies while getting the earlier Oscar contenders via rental.
1. Vice - There’s a ringing in my ear from the deafening sound of the filmmakers high-fiveing each other. Almost walked out of it. What a smug mess.
2. The Favourite (2nd viewing) - I marvel at all the ways Weisz wittily cuts down everyone around her. I appreciated the script even more, catching more of the dialogue I missed trying to process it all the first time.
3. Eighth Grade - An absolute delight. I really wish Josh Hamilton got more traction in Supporting Actor. I cried during that backyard fire scene; he’s so good at being such a ... dad.
4. Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again - I’m on the fence. I love the original in how flawed and silly it was. But I found myself checking out a lot in the new one. Maybe it’s too self-aware? Idk, I’ll need another viewing.
Saw Welcome to Marwen last night. I like it alright despite two rather questionable plot points that did not logically connect. I like the premise that a strong cadre of women provide support to the PTSD-stricken main character: both in real life and in avatar forms. I have to see the documentary this film was based on.
Caught Mary, Queen of Scots last week during the first day of the government shutdown. Because of low expectations, I thought the film was good; performances were also good especially the supporting cast. As for the two leads, Ronan is heroic, queenly; Robbie is tragic, flawed and ultimately moving.
Then I saw If Beale Street Could Talk one rainy night at the Angelika. I was not impressed right away. Or at least not right away. Maybe because I saw Mother of the Maid the same night at the Public Theatre, but I was emotionally underwhelmed by If Beale Street Could Talk. But after a few days I am still thinking about Fonny and Tish and their parents, and the colors used in the film, Brian Tyree Henry's monologue, and the superb score. Barry Jenkins' ethereal treatment of the story of two people in love was lovelier in recollection than when I saw it. I must see it again.
But I was unprepared for the WTFery of Border. A truly brave, extraordinary and strangely uplifting story of trolls. It can be told as a fairy tale but I like the realism that director Ali Abbasi deployed to tell this more-than-human love story. I won't be able to forget this film for a long time. I was not surprised this film from Sweden did not make the 9 foreign-language shortlist. It's probably too bizarre, too macabre to voters. But I am glad this film got made -- it never once shirked away from showing the explicit details of troll courtship, violence and love.
Shoplifters is a quiet masterpiece, an intimate opera of family, of belonging, of societal cruelty. Like most of Kore-eda's films, Shoplifters was vividly brought to life. Slowly, it unpeeled layers of unknowable emotions to paint an unusual and compelling portrait of a nontraditional family.
I also saw a few others in the past two weeks:
Tyrel - full of toxic masculinity with racial undertones. At times too scary to watch, this film was billed an outstanding horror from a non-horror film. The ending was abrupt and not tied to what came before, but I think that's what's real life is like: messy and unresolved.
Capernaum - relentlessly bleak and discursively brutal - I think I was holding my breath the entire time while watching the story of Zaid unfold. The story is an amalgamation of real events in prisons, prison-like dwellings, refugee wastelands, and orphanages, as witnessed by director Nadine Labaki herself. The ending shot reminded me of the ending for Tyrel: a hope for a better world even if it is extremely difficult to achieve.
Blindspotting may turn out to be one of my top 10 best films this year. Its atmosphere reminds me of Pariah, Ballast, Killer of Sheep and other American kitchen sink dramas. But the rap oratorio delivered by Daveed Diggs at the end, plus the singular talent and naturalistic acting of Rafael Casal, and a very strong supporting cast make this urban drama a true indie standout.
Caught Crazy Rich Asians while on a long airline flight. Enjoyable overall, but I can't shake off the feeling that there is something systemically racist, sexist and age-ist in the proceedings that I can't quite articulate. I have not read the book it was based on so I am sure I am missing a lot. The ensemble was uniformly good though.
John C. Reilly movies both on No. 7. The most underrated, great actor out there imo.
I watched Mary Poppins Returns and I fell asleep during the big animated musical number. Suffice to say, I still prefer the original. The titular character had NOTHING TO DO, but it's good to see Blunt finally getting her overdue nomination.
Wonderful report! I really love your hard work!
Saw Collette which was boring because of a miscast Keira Knightkey she bnver showed the passion or intelligence or iconoclastic personality,far to oon the nose and moden and a superb dominating Dominic West,he should be in the Lead Actor conversation.
I saw SECOND ACT
Anyone who has a soft spot for J-LO should check it out.... a WORKING GIRL for the 2000s that is totally predictable but 100% charming
Leah Remini is a total hoot... I know people will roll their eyes at this but I lol’d way more at this than most of the stuff nominated for best Comedy at the Globes :)
I saw Roma and Vice and they were both disappointments.
I think Cuarón needs to direct a screenplay written by someone else (not his son). I also think he needs to stop focusing on childbirth, motherhood, and fertility.
I've seen the wonderful Anime [B]Your Name[/B] finally and it'as really sad it wasn't nominated for animated feature at the Oscars. *sigh*
I also liked the Ghost in the Shell.Arise series. Will definitely go into my collection.
I saw a glut of family movies, but it was fun!
“Bumblebee”
I’d never seen a Transformers movie (why would I?) but I liked this sweet story of a girl and her robot/car. Hailee Stanfield has been consistently good in everything I’ve seen her in.
“Aquaman”
Yes, sure, this was fun. I like Nicole Kidman’s gallery of movie mothers. They’re so kind and loving. It was fun that this one was also a dynamic physical fighter.
“Mary Poppins”
Great cast (beautiful Emily, delightful Lin-Manuel), great production values, thrilling costumes, good songs.
But
- Rotten, rotten story. (We need a new story? Let’s start with a dead mom, because that’s our favourite thing. Add a soupçon of the triumph of capitalism, and the importance of inherited wealth- for the male sibling, yup, yup)
- Ben Whishaw has the wrong tone. Too hotly emotional when he yells, you start thinking he’s kind of abusive as well as neglectful. And he never learns his lesson. People just do things for him.
- The cousin Topsy sequence is an over-produced unnecessary “why?”.
Also saw Mary, Queen of Scotch, which is what I call it now ‘cause, baby, I needed one! Though handsomely made, it really could’ve been a Netflix movie, it was so generic.
Vice - I enjoyed this movie as a dark comedy. It’s big and messy but so were the players and events of the Bush years. I would be okay if Christian Bale and Amy Adams won Oscars.
Ben is Back - great work by Julia Roberts and Lucas Hedges. Julia is smart to grow into her actual age and real face, like Streep did.
I rewatched Roma tonight and I cannot stop wondering why Marina de Tavira did not get more traction with the critics groups. I get that the story is all about Cleo (Yalitza). But Sophia (Marina) could have gone to the left easily. And Marina handled the role really well. And she seems lovely.
For sheer star power, reviews and promotional effort, I'd put Roberts in the #6 or #7 spot for Best Actress currently. Her possible Globe win for Homecoming doesn't hurt, either.
Close/Gaga/Colman/McCarthy/Blunt is most likely.
But I could still see the first four plus Roberts. Or the first four plus Aparicio. I can't imagine Kidman, Collette, Pike or Mulligan mustering the necessary support.
Julia's a wildcard, for sure, but I like her chances better than most of your second tier.
I saw Roma tonight and I thought the film was technically brilliant, the screenplay, cinematography, narrative pace and overall performances were all perfection. I know that everything was spelled out in advance in the actual screenplay but Roma never appeared stage-y or stiff. The still tableau sometimes convey more than spoken dialogues. Witness that scene after Sofia told her kids about their father: everyone's eating ice cream dejectedly while Cleo was standing and looking at them almost protectively without saying a word while a wedding in the background was taking place. It spoke more about power relations, family tragedy and a complex mix of emotions that dialogue can't quite capture. Plus there's that uninterrupted shot of the ocean where Cleo wades through the water -- so oddly unsettling and heartbreaking at the same time.
The non-professional actress Yalitza Aparicio is wonderful -- she cuts through the heart without the cloying techniques especially in two of her most emotionally devastating scenes. That she managed to convey a silent scream without screaming pulled at my emotional heartstrings. Marina de Tavira is great. While she vacillates from being loving and sympathetic to angry hysterical, she also showed other fleeting emotions that are hard to describe. I am glad I saw this movie in the wide screen. I may watch it again on Netflix since the film is always sold out in the last two venues in NYC.
Like Roma, I desperately wanted to see Can You Ever Forgive Me? because it was only showing in two venues in Manhattan. But the film was moved to a smaller theater and getting tickets in the actual venue was even more challenging, so we decided on Stan & Ollie since Laurel and Hardy were childhood fixtures. But what a disappointment! The direction was inert and the two actors were not at the top of their games although Steve Coogan was slightly more effective than Reilly. The true MVPs turned out to be Shirley Henderson and Nina Arianda as the comedians' wives. When they are on-screen, their banters crackle with electricity and provided the needed caffeine jolt to this soporific affair. When they're onscreen, they are a riot. They both complemented each other so well. I wish a film is devoted to these ladies with both Henderson and Arianda playing them.
I saw " The Favourite" which is very good until that WTF fade out?!
Over the last week:
Roma (on Netflix)--I saw it with three other people, two of whom thought it was dreadfully slow and boring. I thought this was quite beautiful, and ultimately touching.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse--Fun, imaginative, trippy, moving in spots, fantastically animated. I loved it. What a pleasant surprise! Definitely one of the best of the year.
If Beale Street Could Talk-- Something about the way it was filmed (and, in some cases, acted) left me cold. I didn't dislike it, but it was ultimately a disappointment for me.
Destroyer--Flawed and difficult, but I really liked it. Man, will this be divisive! I saw it with my partner, who strongly disliked it. Admittedly, the build-up is a bit TOO slow, and there are some directorial choices that were a bit heavy-handed. But, for me at least, it REALLY paid off by the end. I can see people hating this film. I can also see people feeling that Kidman was terribly miscast, but I thought she was astonishing. For my money, she definitely deserves a nod for this one and I would love to see her be a surprise nominee (although I don't think that will happen).
VICE - not as "funny" as I expected. More snarky than funny.And horrifying too. I had no idea that Cheney went back to the Nixon years, or that Lynne was that political. Great performances and makeup / hair work.
THE FAVOURITE - cynical and snarky also, although I would say Colman is supporting and Weisz and Stone share lead. And I had to cheat and look up what that ending meant.
AQUAMAN - fun and fluffy, and they use this new process called "Color" for a Superhero movie. Mamoa is not much of an actor, but he is charismatic. I was positive that the King was William Sadler or another of those character actors, and was shocked it was Dolph Lundgren.