Weekend Box Office (January 18 - 20, 2019)

by Gitesh Pandya

THIS WEEKEND M. Night Shyamalan was back in the number one spot with his latest thriller Glass which debuted to an estimated $40.6M over the Friday-to-Sunday portion of the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday frame. The PG-13 film delivered an opening that was almost identical to the $40M of the director's last film Split from this same weekend two years ago. The surprise ending of that film revealed that the story was in the same universe as Shyamalan's 2000 film Unbreakable which starred Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson. The stars of both films came together for this new entry.

Many in the industry believed that Glass would open bigger than Split given the additional starpower of Willis and Jackson, more upfront interest for a franchise film, and the holiday weekend which allows Sunday drops to be smaller than usual. Reviews were more negative than positive for Glass which may have turned some audiences off. Consumer feedback is so-so with the CinemaScore grade being a B.

Glass averaged a solid $10,566 from 3,841 locations and the $48.5M overseas debut weekend made for a global bow of $89.1M. Studio data showed that the crowd was 54% male and 65% over 25. With a reported budget of only $20M, Glass should go on to become a moneymaker.

The Kevin Hart-Bryan Cranston comedy The Upside displayed terrific legs in its second weekend of play sliding down only 23% to an estimated $15.7M taking second place. STX has banked $44M to date and expects a solid Monday gross on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Film critics were not too impressed by the film, but audiences have been very pleased and that's what has driven the box office success. A final in the $85-90M range may result.

Powering its way to a third place launch was the popular anime film Dragon Ball Super: Broly which captured an estimated $10.7M this weekend from only 467 locations for a potent $22,805 average. Since its mid-week launch, Funimation has taken in an impressive $21M. Reviews were generally good and the excited fan base turned out in large numbers for this decades-old brand which remains popular today.

Box office juggernaut Aquaman ranked fourth this weekend with an estimated $10.3M in its fifth round dropping 41%. The Warner Bros. smash broke through the $300M domestic mark on Saturday and climbed to $304.3M tying Skyfall for number 75 on the all-time list. Aquaman is the sixth film from 2018 to join the century club and five have been super hero movies. The overseas gross broke the $750M mark with an incredible $759.1M to date putting the global tally at $1.063 billion. Look for a finish of around $1.14 billion making it the biggest DC movie ever and the second largest Warner Bros. film of all-time after the final Harry Potter.

Still holding up well and staying in the top five for a sixth straight weekend was the acclaimed toon Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse with an estimated $7.3M. The Sony hit slipped only 20% for the smallest decline in the top ten, raising its total to $158.3M. Global is now $322.9M.

A Dog's Way Home fell 37% to an estimated $7.1M putting its sum at $21.3M for Sony. The studio also saw its thriller Escape Room drop 41% to an estimated $5.3M putting the cume at $40.7M.

The musical Mary Poppins Returns followed with an estimated $5.2M, down 32%, for a new cume of $158.7M for Disney and $306M worldwide. Emily Blunt has scored back-to-back $150M+ blockbusters with last April's A Quiet Place doing $188M and now Poppins which is on its way to over $170M. The two acting roles could not be more different.

Paramount saw its action spin-off Bumblebee take in an estimated $4.7M falling 35%. Total is now $115.9M with global up to $412.3M. The Ruth Bader Ginsburg film On The Basis of Sex rounded out the top ten with an estimated $4M, off 35%, for $16.9M to date for Focus.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $110.7M over the Friday-to-Sunday span which was down 14% from last year's MLK weekend when Jumanji stayed at number one with $28.1M; and off 7% from 2017's holiday when Hidden Figures held the top spot with $20.9M.


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# Title Jan 18 - 21 Jan 11 - 13 % Chg. Theaters Weeks AVG Cumulative Distributor
1 Glass $ 46,504,950 3,841 1 $ 12,108 $ 46,504,950 Universal
2 The Upside 18,367,892 20,355,000 -9.8 3,320 2 5,532 46,681,331 STX
3 Aquaman 12,745,159 17,351,134 -26.5 3,475 5 3,668 306,752,007 Warner Bros.
4 Dragon Ball Super: Broly 11,900,000 1,243 1 9,574 22,400,000 Funimation
5 Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse 10,151,020 9,050,583 12.2 2,712 6 3,743 161,152,405 Sony
6 A Dog's Way Home 9,920,103 11,251,263 -11.8 3,090 2 3,210 24,088,599 Sony
7 Mary Poppins Returns 7,160,890 7,650,693 -6.4 2,810 5 2,548 160,648,704 Disney
8 Escape Room 6,809,455 8,928,452 -23.7 2,709 3 2,514 42,235,403 Sony
9 Bumblebee 6,055,012 7,208,398 -16.0 2,711 5 2,233 117,338,688 Paramount
10 On The Basis of Sex 4,769,055 6,070,615 -21.4 1,957 4 2,437 17,680,802 Focus
11 The Mule 3,859,806 5,674,006 -32.0 2,688 6 1,436 97,284,495 Warner Bros.
12 Ralph Breaks the Internet 3,302,853 2,258,077 46.3 1,936 9 1,706 194,361,885 Disney
13 Bohemian Rhapsody 2,785,614 3,201,768 -13.0 1,177 12 2,367 202,518,098 Fox
14 Green Book 2,758,565 2,147,235 28.5 912 10 3,025 42,470,556 Universal
15 Vice 2,145,161 3,235,830 -33.7 1,175 4 1,826 39,528,524 Annapurna
16 If Beale Street Could Talk 2,097,348 2,406,742 -12.9 1,018 6 2,060 10,912,908 Annapurna
17 The Favourite 1,001,538 1,108,173 -9.6 517 9 1,937 22,990,563 Fox Searchlight
18 Uri: The Surgical Strike 1,000,869 631,146 58.6 117 2 8,554 1,958,847 PackYourBag
19 Second Act 817,048 1,671,142 -51.1 1,051 5 777 37,922,241 STX
20 A Star Is Born 740,863 1,124,102 -34.1 415 16 1,785 204,801,596 Warner Bros.
Top 5 $ 99,669,021 $ 66,936,432 48.9
Top 10 134,383,536 96,775,974 38.9
Top 20 154,893,201 114,734,996 35.0
Top 20 vs. MLK 2018 154,893,201 189,992,182 -18.5

Last Updated: January 20, 2019 at 1:55PM ET

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