Warner Bros.’ Aquaman displayed a powerful kick in North American theaters over the weekend, taking in an estimated $52.1 million to help close a record year for the movie sector, final figures showed Wednesday.
With hunky and heavily tattooed Jason Momoa in the lead role, the film has grossed nearly $750 million globally. It earned $52.1 million in its second weekend.
Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns gained altitude in its second weekend, taking in $28.4 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period. In third was Paramount’s Bumblebee, a prequel to the Transformers movies, starring Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, at $20.9 million.
Fourth place went to Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, at $18.8 million. The film has drawn rave reviews—with a 97 score on the Rotten Tomatoes website—and has netted a Golden Globe nomination as best animated picture.
In fifth was The Mule from Warner Bros., at $12.2 million. Clint Eastwood directs and takes the lead role—his last acting part, he has said—as a destitute 90-year-old who turns to transporting cocaine for a drug cartel.
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Disney hauls in $7B at box office in 2018
Disney posted its second-best year at the box office ever, raking in $7.325 billion worldwide for everything from Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War to hit animated sequel Incredibles 2 and the latest Star Wars film.
Disney remains the only studio to ever post more than $7 billion in annual box office receipts. In 2016, it recorded its best year at $7.6 billion.
In North America, Disney made nearly $3.1 billion, a new industry record, thanks to the runaway success of Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War and Incredibles 2—now all among the top 10 highest grossing films of all time.
Each one earned more than $600 million in the United States and Canada. Cumulatively, those three films alone made $4.64 billion worldwide.
Other successes on the Disney slate include Marvel superhero flick Ant-Man and The Wasp, Solo: A Star Wars Story and Mary Poppins Returns, which has already made more than $200 million around the world and is still in theaters.
In 2019, Disney has another massive year ahead on the silver screen, with Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame leading the Marvel charge in the spring, and Frozen 2 due at year’s end, along with Star Wars: Episode IX.
New versions of animated classics Dumbo Aladdin and The Lion King are yet to come, as is Pixar’s Toy Story 4.
