March 29, 2024

‘Aquaman’ Is Already a Box Office Titan

Warner decided to pursue an early release date for “Aquaman” in China to avoid the country’s traditional end-of-year blackout period for American movies. Opening first in China — where Wan has a following, having directed the smash hit “Furious 7” — would also allow Warner to limit the impact of piracy, which is rampant in the country. Piracy was a major factor in the recent failure of Warner’s “Crazy Rich Asians” at the Chinese box office; the romantic comedy’s release in China came three months after its rollout elsewhere in the world.

Why didn’t Warner just release “Aquaman” this weekend in North America as well?

The two weekends after Thanksgiving in the United States are typically among the slowest moviegoing periods of the year, as holiday shopping and related festivities (school pageants) take priority. There were no new wide-release films over the weekend in North America, where the No. 1 movie was once again “Ralph Breaks the Internet” (Disney), which collected about $16.1 million, for a three week domestic total of $140.9 million, according to Comscore.

Three high-profile prestige films arrived in limited release. “Mary Queen of Scots” (Focus Features), starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role, took in $200,000 at four theaters, for a solid per-theater average of $50,045. The slick “Vox Lux” (Neon), starring Natalie Portman as a pop singer, took in about $162,000 in six theaters, for a per-screen average of $27,000 that was boosted by in-person appearances by Portman.

Ben Is Back” (Roadside Attractions) received the best reviews of the trio but stumbled out of the gate, collecting about $81,000 at four theaters ($20,200 per screen) — one of the worst debuts ever for Julia Roberts, who stars in the film as a mother of a drug-addicted son, played by Lucas Hedges.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/09/arts/aquaman-box-office-china.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

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