Box Office: ‘Aquaman’ still rules, others see a post-Christmas bump

Published 6:46 am Saturday, January 5, 2019

LOS ANGELES — In the final weekend of 2018, “Aquaman” still led the pack at the box office, but other films like “Mary Poppins Returns,” ‘’The Mule” and “Second Act” enjoyed post-holiday bumps too, even amid an onslaught of new Christmas offerings like “Vice,” ‘’Holmes and Watson,” ‘’On the Basis of Sex” and the Netflix phenomenon “Bird Box.”

Warner Bros. said Sunday that “Aquaman” added an estimated $51.6 million in North American ticket sales over the weekend to take first place again. Down just 24 percent from its domestic debut, the DC Comics pic, which has been No. 1 internationally for four weeks, has now grossed nearly $748.8 million worldwide.

Although other films in theaters were left in “Aquaman’s” wake, more than a few in the top 10 experienced an uncommon uptick in returns this weekend. Disney’s “Mary Poppins Returns” ended the weekend up an estimated 19 percent, in second place, with $28 million, while “Bumblebee,” down only five percent, settled in third with $20.5 million.

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Up 11 percent, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” got fourth with $18.3 million, and “The Mule,” up 24 percent, took fifth with $11.8 million.

The Jennifer Lopez-led “Second Act,” which got off to a slow start last weekend, also found itself up 11 percent, with $7.2 million in seventh place. But the biggest bump of all came for Disney’s “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” which was up nearly 40 percent in its sixth weekend in theaters, with $6.5 million.