'Aquaman' Wins the Weekend Again
by EG
Aquaman was the king of the Christmas holiday, and it looks like he'll continue to reign through the New Year's break. The DC superhero flick won the box office race in the weekend between Christmas and New Year's, and it has no real competition in the week ahead. Read on for details.
James Wan's Aquaman more than conquered the Christmas box office swim meet.
The superhero tentpole finished Sunday with a shimmery global total of $748.8 million, guaranteeing that Aquaman will fly past $900 million by the end of its run and become the biggest Warner Bros./DC title since Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises earned $1.09 billion in 2012, not adjusted for inflation.
In the intervening years, DC and Warners have struggled to compete with Marvel's booming cinematic universe, both creatively and at the box office.
The sole exception was Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman, which earned the adoration of fans and critics alike on its way to $821.8 million worldwide in 2016. Otherwise, the post-Nolan era at DC has lagged in terms of both meeting expectations and keeping up with Marvel.
Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa in the titular role, has already surpassed the entire lifetime gross of fellow DC pics Man of Steel ($668 million), Justice League ($657.9 million) and Suicide Squad ($746.8 million), and will soon overtake both Wonder Woman and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($873.6 million), not adjusted for inflation.
The event film co-stars Amber Heard, Willem Defoe, Nicole Kidman, Patrick Wilson and Dolph Lundgren.
Domestically, Aquaman has grossed $188.8 million in its first 10 days.
Overseas, it has earned $560 million to date, the best showing ever for any DC superhero pic, including Dark Knight Rises. The film's foreign tally includes a mighty $260 million from China alone (it opened in the Middle Kingdom three weeks ago).
In North America, exit polls show that Aquaman is succeeding in playing to both males and females of all ages. On its first weekend, 60 percent of moviegoers were male; that percentage dropped to 56 percent this past weekend, according to Comscore's PostTrak. It is also playing to an ethnically perse audience, as well as to families; 32 percent of ticket buyers turning out on the second weekend were parents and kids.
Aquaman easily beat fellow Christmas competitors Mary Poppins Returns and Transformers spinoff Bumblebee.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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